WARREN BECHTELDIES IN'R'U,SSIAOF OVERDOSE OFIN LIN TODAYPre

MOSCOW, Aug. 28. (U.Fn-Warren A. Bechtel, 61, of SanFrancisco, President of Six Com-panies Incorporated, BoulderDam builders, died suddenly i1\the National Hotel here froman overdose of insulin, which hehad been taking for several yearson doctor's; orders. ,Bechtel came hers three days

2g0 with the intention.of seeing Dr.Nieper Rostovdam, and was to haveleft tomorrow for that trip ..MRS. BECHTEL, who was in

,Vienna, was -notif ied immediatelyarid was expected to arrive in Mos.cow as soori as possible.W. A. Bechtel, second President

of Six Companies Incorporated,last visited' the .Boulder Dam onJune 5 to view the pouring of thefirst concrete on the project. Heseemed in the best o'f health at thattime, and was laying plans "for hisexten<:led-tiip~'fo' Europe.Born on a stock farm in Free-

port Illinois, September 12, 1872,Bechtel practically grew up in thecontracting business. His familymoved to Kansas in 1884, in thedays when they' traveled thruoutthe west,as birds fly, so to speak,for there 'were few roads then. Af-ter graduating from hig h school, hewent to work on a 'farm and wentbroke in the cattle business, hisfirst venture., WHILE THUS engaged he was

(ContinGo(1 on ~.J~t{t- ,'hrt-e). RUY AT HOME -

Warren echteI(Continued rrom page one)

married and his eldest SOIl, W. A.Jr., was born. After his failure inthe cattle business, he went to theIndian Territory where he secureda 'job as laborer in a railroad camp,and began working his way up. I

'From then until 1901 he worked,

I thru-out the middlewest always on. construction jobs, principally in!:Wyoming, Oregon and Nevada, en-]I during the vicissitudes and hard-

Iships, of those early-day construetion camps.

II During this period he workedall summer for "love and affection"

Ifor one railroad conductor on the

lB. C. R. and N. railroad in Min-nesota. He was also 'foreman forKilpatrick Bl'OS. and Collins on the

I reconstruction of the Union Pa-cific in Wyoming in 1900. .

FOR TEN YEARS, most of the'

I time, he worked like many of the. old timers, 11 hours a day, forwhich he received 10 hours pay.Bechtel's younger brother, A. V.

I(Art) Be.chtel, joined him in 1898and has. been indentified with him

Iever since. .Although he had no 'engineering

! or technical training, Bechtel was

Ia keen observer and ambitious, and. during this none too 'fruitful ex-perience on grading projects he be-came proficient in estimating costs.F1-<:irn1902 to 1903 he was employ-ed in the estimating department ofthe Southern Pacific (Central Pa-cific division) under W. E. Marshand A. J. Barclay and taught manya young engineer to compute quan-tities for progress estimates.

In 1904 he joined E. B. and A.L. Stone, contractors of Oakland,as superintendent ,on the gradingof the Richmond Belt Line Ry. andthe grading of the Santa Fe line'from Richmond to Oakland. In 1906he became a subcontractor 'under I

tion of the Western Pacific rail-'E. B. and A. L. S\one on construe-road; after which he was a sub-contractor for the Utah Construc-tion Co., on the Natron Cutoff of

the Southern Pacific, in Oregon;Oakdale Irrigation District canal(California); Northwestern Pacif-ic railroad through Eel River can-yon, California. I

Finally in 1914, Bechtel decided Ito start out on his own, and has!literally shot ahead; W. A. Bechtel ICo. being incorporated in May,11925, During this 16 year period Ihe has chalked up $30,000,000 ofcontracts, on many of which hehad made a good profit, but onsome Of which he has taken a lick-ing without a murmur. Among thelmajor' contracts may be mentionedthe Natron Cutoff in 1926-7 inconjunction with the Utah con-struction company; precast, unit-built concrete train sheds, andround houses (for which he holdsthe patents) for the Western Pa-ci'fic, Southern Pacific, Union Pa-cific, and Santa Fe railroads; theBowman rock-fill dam and tunnelfor the Nevada Irrigation District,double tracking of the Santa Fereconstruction of 40 miles of thethrough New MfXico and Arizona,Sacramento Northern railroad. Inconjunction with S. H. Palmer, theyconstructed in 1930 the natural gaspipe-line from Tracy to 'Crockettfor the Standard Oil Company, and'from Milpital to 'I'res Pinos forthe Pacific Gas and Electric com-pany., In partnership with the Kaiserpaving company, as Bechtel andKaiser, Co., Ltd. they constructedin 1927 and have since opera tee Ithe Oroville rock plant for con- Icrete aggregates and railroad ball- I

ast. Togethm- with the Utah con-struction -Co. they have the con-tract for constructing the railroadfrom Keddie north to Bieber, 112miles when completed; now about50 per cent completed. Another Icontract under construction is theBonica rock-fill dam in New Mex-ico for the Southern Pacific Co. The I

Bechtel company also has several'high~ay contracts, totaling $300'-1000.BECHTEL IS survived by his'

I

I wife, a daughter A ice, and threesons Wallen A. Jil'., Steve andKenneth. All three boys hold po-sitions of responsibility in Six-Com-panies Incorporated in addition tobeing in charge of W. A. BechtelCompany's operations.

Funeral arrangements have notbeen annuonced, but it.is believedprobable that the remains' will beshipped back to this country andthat burial will take place in SanFrancisco.