The Waterbury Democrat., 1934-12-31
New York Havana Ward liner, was

New York Havana Ward liner, was afire.
 In his cabin aboard the burn ing ship lay the body of Captain Robert R. Willmott, dead only F | hours before of a sudden attack of heart disease.
 Command had passed to William R. Warns, mate. later to be in dicted for inadequate handling of a critical situation. The fire, whose origin has never been deter mined, spread with horrifyine speed, and before the confused officers of the Moro Castle had beached her off Asbury Park, 135 of the passengers and crew were dead, either burned to death when trapped aboard the ship, or drowned when they went over board without sufficient lifeboat or life preserver protection. Various investigations of the disaster dragged through the year, with promise of better laws to pro- tect steamship passengers as a re- suit.
 7-STRIKES RAGE
 Strike violence reached a new peak as industry and organized la- bor struggled to interpret the legal rightS and the practical working out of Section "A of the MIRA, giving labor the right to collective bargaining.
 The San Francisco general strike was the first general strike in great American city in more than To years. All organized labor in all trades joined in an effort to paralyze the city in support of a strike by longshoremen on the waterfront.
 For four days San Francisco was chained, forced to eat, travel, and work as the strikers decreed; then the strike began to break up after four men had been killed in spo- radio rioting which centered mostly on the docks.
 No less significant, however, was the industrial strike of the United Textile Workers in an effort to tie up the whole textile industry by a walkout of 100000 employees in many towns along the Atlantic seaboard.
 Ten thousand state troops were -caleld out to suppress rioting which followed efforts to shut down non-striking mills with fly ing squadrons" from striking plants. At least 20 lives were lost and scores were hurt before set clement was effected.
 In these as well as other violent strikes at Toledo, Minneapolis, and Kohler, Wis, the most notable development was the mass enlist ment of organized unemployed as pickets in support of strikers.
 S-SINCLAIR LOSES
 Turbulence was the keynote not only of the industrial, but also of the political, field. In California, especially in the southern part, new political movements rose like lava within the cone of a volcano.
 Chief among them was the can didacy of Upton Sinclair, lifelong Socialist, for the governorship. Sinclair seized the nomination of the democratic party, and launched campaign of pamphle- teering and speechmaking which came within an ace of carrying his End Poverty in California" (EPIC Plan) into the statehouse. Though he lost the election after q bitter fight against him by all conservative elements, reused by his plans to institute system of Socialism, Sinclair polled three-quarters of a million votes, which left mark on the incom- ing administration of Governor Merriam.
 Also, he left the three-quarters of q million voters ready to ally themselves with whatever move ment offers the. greatest similarity to what they had voted for, but lost.
 9-HUEY DICTATES
 For the firsttim e in many years a single man arose to be uncon- tested master of a great Amer ican state. He was Huey Long, Dictator of the Delta" Victor over the "New Orleans Machine" in an election that came close to bloodshcd as his national guards men lined up across the street from city police, Long became complete "boss'' of the state.