GREY LYNN VETERAN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIII, Issue 98, 27 April 1932, Page 9

GREY LYNN VETERAN.

NINETY-SIXTH BIRTHDAY,

SAW ORPHEUS WRECKED,

MEMORIES OF WAIKATO WAR,

One of the very old residents of Auckland is Mr. Charles W. C. Smith, of Grey Lynn, who, on April 20, attained the ago of 9(i years. It is almost neediest* to state that Mr. Smith for many years lived an outdoor life, and for a long time worked in the bush. He was born in Tasmania and came to Auckland with his parents when a boy, in the brig Isabella.

Mr. Smith's father bought a section in Queen Street, near the present site of the Bank of New Zealand, for 25/, but as it was mostly swamp he was glad to get rid of it for the same price.

While Mr. Smith was living at Huia he saw the warship Orpheus wrecked on Manukau Bar, and afterwards helped bury 12 or 14 bodies. As a boy Mr. Smith had Maori boys for playmates, and learned to handle a canoe expertly. During the war in the Waikato the family did not leave Huia to coine to town as they were very friendly with the Maoris and felt they were quite safe. Mr. Smith relates that he often walked in to Auckland from Huia, a distance, by the Way he came, of about 33 miles.