Know- VtiiaeSiAitif,
I
Back in the days when the
“Galloping Goose” was the only
reliable means of transportation
between Fairbanks and College,
William A. O’Neill was a student
at the Alaska Agricultural College
and School of Mines (now the
University of Alaska).
For purposes of identification,
the “Galloping Goose” was an an
cient Model A Ford motor mount
ed on railroad wheels, with a big
home-made coach sitting on top.
Students thirsting for knowledge
hung on for dear life while the
mechanical contraption galloped
and sputtered its way between
The Alaska Railroad terminus on
the north side of the Chena and
the 6x6 station building called
“ College.
Regent O’Neill came to Alaska
m 1908 at the age of one—a lusty
young resident of the city of Cor
dova. In this booming copper
town, his father was in the gen
eral mercantile business. Every
one in Cordova remembers Harry
I. O’Neill, and the family that
grew to encompass 12 children—
of whom William is the oldest.
As a Cordova high school young
ster, Bill O’Neill worked in the
Chititu Placer Mines not far from
Kennecott. In fact, at 18, he was
foreman for the operation. “In
the fall of 1928,” he stated, “with
my season’s wages pulling my
pants out of shape, I went to Fair
banks to take the Mining Short
fhurse given by Dean Ernest
Patty at the then Alaska Agri
cultural College and School of
Mines. “Dean Patty took an in
terest in me and persuaded me to
enroll at the University for regu
lar instruction.”
O’Neill attended the University
from 1929 to 1934, graduating
with a Bachelor of Science De
gree. He majored in Geology and
Mining. In those days the school
wasn’t as elaborate as it is today.
The girls’ dorm was over the
■cafeteria, and Harriet Hess Hall
wasn’t even dreamed of. Neither
was Eielson Memorial Hall. The
gymnasium was located in the
west wing of the top floor of the
mam building, and it was there
that O’Neill and his classmates
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Anchorage, Alaska
407 mth Ave. Dial 4-6231
played championship basketball.
Dr. James Ryan, Alaska’s present
Commissioner of Education, was
then an aspiring young college
teacher and a whiz-bang basket
ball coach.
“Coach Ryan was so good that,
one year, 1933, our University
basketball team won 40 games
and lost only two. We covered
all of Alaska, from Fairbanks to
Ketchikan,” O’Neill remarked. “In
those days the airplane wasn’t the
essential vehicle of transporta
tion as it is today, so we went by
The Alaska Railroad and Alaska
Steamship. We were gone from
the campus almost two months,
but we all passed, nevertheless.”
The University of Alaska did
more for William A. O’Neill than
give him a degree. It gave him a
wife—Violet Lundell of Douglas,
who was attending college at the
same time. They were married in
Anchorage in 1933 and have three
children: Sally, 11, was born in
Fairbanks; Billy, 8, was born in
Seattle; and Maureen, 3, was born
in Dawson, Y. T.
For a number of years after his
graduation, Mining Engineer O’
Neill worked for the McRae &
Patty interests at Coal Creek and
WoodchopDer, and prospected for
them in Goodnews Bay. When
World War II came along. Navy
Lieutenant O’Neill put in two
years in the Pacific. After hostili
ties ceased, O’Neill returned to
the McRae & Patty organization
as assistant manager in charge of
Canadian operations. Later he
opened his own office in Anchor
age as a consulting mining engi
neer.
On January 26, 1948, O’Neill
was appointed to the University
of Alaska’s Board of Regents, and
has been an active constructive
influence on the board. As a
member of the alumni association
ne has kept up with the Univer
sity’s problems and its “growing
na;ns,” and he feels a personal
pride in the progress his school
nas made in its brief lifetime.
The survey for the lower end of
the Cooper River Highway has
been completed, it was announced
at Cordova last week. The Alaska
Road Commission crew working
north through the National For
est met the Bureau of Public
Roads crew surveying south at
the “million dollar bridge” at
Mile 41. The highway would give
the Prince William Sound area a
land link with interior Alaska.
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MOORE'S GARAGE
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You can pay your
bills from the
comfort of your
armchair if you pay
by check and check
on the friendly
MATANUSKA VALLEY BANK
Palmer, Alaska
Open Friday Evenings—5 to 7 P. M.
2 PER CENT ON SAVINGS
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Evening Craft Club
To Have New Schedule
Starting in January
New Year plans for the Evening
Craft Club were announced this
week. Starting in January, the
first of the monthly meetings will
be devoted to crafts with the sec
ond meeting to be social. The new
schedule was voted at the regular
meeting of the club held Tuesday,
November 13, at the home of Mrs.
r
Nina Stock. Following the bu£!
ness session, Mrs. Wanda Wilson
demonstrated decorative plate
making as the project lesson for
the evening.
The club meets twice regularly
each month on the second and
fourth Tuesdays. The next meet
ing will be held at the home of
Mrs. Olava Roetman on Novem
ber 27 at 8 p. m.
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'I
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519 E. FIFTH ANCHORAGE DIAL 34255
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Fried Chicken, Frog Legs and Steaks.
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