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Otago Witness, Issue 3315, 26 September 1917, Page 39

Although Dickens on several occasions made use of the words "I don't think," .he was not the coiner of this classic phraee. "The Pickwick Papers," in which tho earliest Dickene references occur, appeared in 1837; but in Captain Marryatt's "Snarleyyow," or "The Dog Fiend," published m 1836, we find that Moggy Salisbury, in the course of a conversation with Lieutenant Vanslyperkon, remarks, "Well, you're a nice lecftenant, I don't think."

a strange new object- of worship. In the Faridpur district of Bengal there is a palm tree, the fronds of which throughout the tropic day stand outspread as though held in their place by ribs of steel. As the sun eets the leaves bow down until the evening finds them touching the earth. Pilgrims come from afar to worship the praying palm, and strange faith cures jhave been effected. The Czarevitch is intensely Russian, and, though not robust, is one oi the handsomest boye in all Russia. Little Alexis has been the most carefully-guarded personage in Russia since the day he was born in August, 1904. His bodyguard hi '. been a giant Russian soldier, who has instilled in the lad's mind much of the Russian folklore he loves. Ho experienced a taste of war when he visited the Field Headquarters last year.

■—Paris is still very short of coal. No coal merchant will lake an order, nor has taken one for months. Prices have beca fmtustic—£lo a ton is cheap, and people hava paid up to £2O. Wood has been sold at £8 and £lO, and £6 is considered moderate. The houses which are heated by the landlord may, a Times correspondent save, be left without heat altogether unless the matter is soon settled, and landlords are already trying to avoid the responsibility, although the method central in a block of flats is much more economical than the other.