Pink Franklin, a colored man, was charged with breaking his labor contract. The labor contract law of South Carolina says that a farm laborer who leaves his job before the end of the year owing his employer, is guilty of a criminal offense and may be severely punished. In the dead of night the constable broke into Pink Franklin’s house, shot at him and wounded him. Franklin could not see who was shooting and had no means of knowing that it was an officer of the law. He leapt from bed and returned the fire, killing the constable. He was arrested for murder, threatened with lynching and condemned to be hanged. Two colored lawyers defended him and appealed finally to the Supreme Court of the United States. The Supreme Court gave no relief and Pink Franklin still lies under sentence of death. Effort is now being made to induce the Governor of South Carolina to reprieve him. * * * * * She was a well-educated, attractive colored teacher. “Some people,” she said, “think Charleston to be the prettiest city in the Southland. The houses are big and cool with lovely gardens. And then there is a park. You ought to see it! I don’t believe any park could be prettier. “I have only seen it once,” she went on. “I did want to visit that park before I left Charleston, so I asked one of the white Northern ladies--we were teaching in the same school--if she would take me there. She was the right kind, and we walked all through it. Of course every one thought I was her maid. It certainly was a pretty place.” “But why should the colored people of Charleston,” I asked, “be deprived of a public place of recreation? Don’t they contribute to the city by their work and rent and taxes?” “They certainly do,” she replied, “but that makes no difference. The park I visited is a white folks’ park. It is very beautiful and so they keep it to themselves. Do you know,” she added, thoughtfully, “I don’t believe they would be happy there among the trees and flowers if they thought people who were poor and black could get in.” * * * * * A Chicago schoolboy, claiming that a twenty-five-cent piece had been stolen from him, accused the only colored boy in the class, who was suspended. The quarter was subsequently found where the owner had carelessly placed it and forgotten it, but the teacher made no mention of this. The colored boy’s mother came to inquire into the matter after several days and protested against the accusation. “You shouldn’t mind so much,” said the teacher. “You know it is a common saying that colored people are dishonest.” WHAT TO READ AFRICA. Railway and Engineering Progress. J. H. Knight, Eng. M., April. Stanley’s Africa; Then and Now. J. M. Hubbard, Atlantic, March.