Newport weekly independent., 1904-10-28
HUNTS HUMAN SKULLS
Peculiar Hobby Which oecupies
 Leisure Time of Texan.
Has Visited Mnny Lands and Csun. tries in Search of the odd Curios and He Has an Interest-
 ing Collection.

N
 The following advertisement appeared in the newspapers of St. Joseph. Mo-. re- gently:
 "Wanted-Human skulls! must be in good condition: will pay literally for fine specimens. Apply Hotel M. Charles w. Jenkins"
 Jenkins was a temporary resident of St Joseph, where he has considerable realty interests. but his real home Is in Corpus Christi, Tex. He has probably the oldest fad of any collector of curios who has ever been resident of that city. MT. Jenkins is very anxious to increase his collection of skulls, and in the pos session of medical students, physicians and colleges of St. Joseph are specimens taken from various burying grounds that have ksen unearthed in the sx- cavations fer buildings on sites that Hundreds of years ago were repositories for the dead of the ancient red man.
 T have now in my possession 34S perfect specimens of human skulls," says MT. Jenkins. "They represent the hu- man of many ages, and find them az interesting study indeed. How did come to indulge in such strange fadf We'll. in my youth I made study of anatomy. and became intensely inter. esteA in the construction of the human frame. I gradually acquired taste for this form of bric-a-brac.
 T got my real start as . collector ef skulls in 1887. During excavations in St. Joseph on property in the possession of my father several specimens ef an ancient race were exhumed, and straishtway found resting place upon . shelf in cabinet fin my home. vis- tied the former homo of the mound builder in Colorado and New Mexico, where other specimens of the ancient inhabitants were discovered They diff. for materially from the skulls found in St. Joseph. Then visited the holy land fn search Of specimens. From there I drifted to the lands of the Ptolemies of Egypt. Here some valuable acquisi- tens wers made. have tramped over the PamDaa of South America, the noun tains of Peru and Chilli, and even psne- trated into the wildernesses of the Anna son, where. in deposits of earth and stone, have brought to light perfect specimens sf hxmaE skulls, represent ing periods which history does not chronicle.
 Tn my experiments havs found that some skulls take on very beautiful polish, and I must say that, under tho hand of skilled artisan, they are made magnificent. These specimens occupy . cabinet by themselves. I have . number of skulls taken from the wreck of the Galveston storm. also have specimens from other disasters on this and othAr continents. Five victims of the Mohs. Pelee disaster are represented in my collection. This business of collecting skulls Is a great aid in the study and re- tention of important facts in history. have in my possession the skulls of men at times prominent in the history of this nation. How came to have them do not care to say. However, money , means of gra,fyfng the tastes of anyone who cares to make collection of this kind. Because have acquired liking for this work, spend much time during the winter months wandering about between rows of grinning headR philisophizing. after the fashion of the grave digger in Hamlet, upon the brev. fly of human life."