The sensational Hall-Mills murder trial hit a major snag when the prosecution's star witness, pig farmer Mrs. Jane Gibson, became too ill to testify from her hospital bed in Somerville, New Jersey. Gibson was expected to place widow Mrs. Frances Stevens Hall and her relatives at the scene of the brutal 1922 murders of Rev. Edward Wheeler Hall and choir singer Mrs. Eleanor Mills. Meanwhile, fingerprint experts testified that a calling card found near the reverend's body bore the print of defendant Willie Stevens' left index finger—a potentially damning piece of evidence in the case that has captivated the nation for four years. Elsewhere, Congress is preparing massive tax cuts of $200-300 million for 1927 incomes, with Chairman Martin Madden promising relief from theater taxes and corporate levies. In a lighter story, missing Randolph-Macon freshman Mary Ella McRae was found safe at an Appomattox boarding house, telling proprietors she needed 'a rest' before heading home to Arkansas. The state of Alabama is also celebrating a agricultural milestone—15,000 turkeys worth $40,000 are being shipped from the Black Belt for Thanksgiving tables across the East Coast.

These stories capture America in 1926 at the height of the Roaring Twenties prosperity. The promised tax cuts reflect the booming economy under Calvin Coolidge's business-friendly policies, while the sensational Hall-Mills trial exemplifies the era's fascination with celebrity scandals and tabloid journalism. The case, involving a minister's affair and double murder, was being covered as intensively as any modern media circus. The cooperation among Alabama turkey farmers through the Farm Bureau also represents the modernization of American agriculture, as traditional farming embraced new marketing techniques and interstate commerce during this period of rapid economic growth.

• The newspaper cost 6 cents in 1926—equivalent to about $1 today, showing how expensive daily news was relative to income
• A wealthy taxpayer with a '$10 million income tax' personally lobbied Congressman Madden to create quarterly payment plans, claiming he'd have to 'dump his goods on the market' to pay the lump sum
• Harry Houdini's funeral procession included 50 automobiles and crowds with 'heads bared' in Times Square—a massive spectacle for 1926
• Missing college student Mary Ella McRae planned to stay at the Appomattox boarding house for 'two weeks' just to rest, highlighting how differently mental health breaks were handled
• Alabama's 15,000 Thanksgiving turkeys were acquired by a Kentucky plant after competitive bidding from companies 'from Philadelphia to Florida'

• Fingerprint expert Joseph A. Faurot, who identified Willie Stevens' print in the Hall-Mills case, was a pioneering forensics detective who helped introduce fingerprinting to American police work in the early 1900s
• The Hall-Mills murder case was one of the first 'trials of the century,' complete with evidence photos passed to jurors—a precursor to today's forensic television drama
• That $40,000 worth of Alabama turkeys would be worth about $680,000 today, showing the massive scale of even 1920s agricultural cooperatives
• John Skelton Williams, the former Wilson administration Comptroller who died this day, had overseen the creation of the Federal Reserve banking system during WWI
• The 98-year-old Dr. J.R. Hayes who died was Abraham Lincoln's personal physician and the oldest living University of Pennsylvania medical school graduate—a direct link to Civil War history still walking the streets of Washington