Two major Congressional investigations are set to launch tomorrow in Washington, with explosive implications for government officials. The House Veterans' Committee will begin hearings on guardianships of war veterans' benefits, while Chairman Zihlman prepares to appoint a five-member subcommittee to investigate the District government itself. At the center of the storm is Commissioner Frederick A. Fenning, facing serious charges regarding his administration of lunacy cases. Representative Blanton of Texas has issued a fiery warning to Republican leaders not to 'dare to block' the investigation, declaring 'let him or they who try to block it beware of the wrath of the people of the United States.' Meanwhile, Arctic explorer Captain George M. Wilkins and pilot Ben Eielson have been missing for 52 hours in the Alaskan wilderness during their third supply run to Point Barrow. The silence marks the longest gap since any of Wilkins' expeditions began, raising fears about their fate in the harsh Arctic conditions.

These stories capture America grappling with post-war growing pains in 1926. The Veterans' Bureau investigations reflect the massive challenge of caring for World War I veterans—over 4 million men had served, and many needed ongoing medical and financial support through government guardianships. Corruption scandals in veteran care would become a recurring theme throughout the 1920s. Meanwhile, the Arctic expedition represents the era's spirit of technological adventure and exploration, as aviation pioneers pushed the boundaries of flight into uncharted territories, often at great personal risk.

• The weather forecast shows Washington's high yesterday was only 58 degrees with a low of 45—quite chilly for mid-April, suggesting a particularly cold spring in 1926
• Representative Gibson, who authored the resolution calling for the District government investigation, specifically asked NOT to be placed on the investigating subcommittee—an unusual move that suggests the political sensitivity of the probe
• The Arctic expedition's three-motored monoplane 'Detroiter' crashed on March 19 and just completed its first test flight since repairs, managing to take off in less than a quarter of the 900-foot runway
• War veteran George Barrett was sentenced to 10 years in prison simply for cursing when ordered not to wear gloves or overcoats while grooming horses—the House voted to give him an honorable discharge as he's now dying of tuberculosis

• Captain Roald Amundsen, mentioned heading to Spitzbergen to prepare for his airship expedition, would disappear forever just two years later in 1928 while searching for a missing Italian airship crew—one of history's great exploration mysteries
• Professor Irving Fisher of Yale, testifying that prohibition saved America $6 billion annually, would become infamous three years later for declaring stocks had reached 'a permanently high plateau' just before the 1929 crash—perhaps the worst market prediction in history
• The new Washington water conduit being tested would serve the city for decades—D.C.'s water infrastructure from this era still supplies parts of the modern capital nearly a century later
• Ben Eielson, the missing pilot, was one of aviation's early Arctic pioneers—he would later become the first person to fly across the Arctic Ocean from America to Europe, though he too would die in a 1929 Alaska crash
• Ambassador Berenger negotiating France's war debt had 'full power to sign for France'—these negotiations were crucial since European war debts to America totaled over $10 billion, equivalent to roughly $150 billion today