Newport daily independent., 1904-10-19
HUNTSHUMAN SKULLS
Peculiar Hobby Which Occupies
 Leisure Time of a Texan.
Has Visited Many Lands and CsuA. tries in Search of the odd Curios and He Has an Interest,"
 ing Collection,

The following advertisement appeared in the newspapers of St Joseph. Mo-. r. gently:
 "Wanted-Human skulls! must be ia good condition; will pay literally for fine specimens. Apply Hotel M. Charles w. Jenkins"
 Jenkins was 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 a resident of that city. Mr. 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 tsen unearthed in the sx- cavations fer buildings on sites that hundreds of years ago were repositories for the dead of the ancient red man. z
 T have now in my possession 34s perfect specimens of human skulls. says MT. Jenkins. ''They represent tho hu- man of many ages, and find them an interesting study indeed. How did ! come to indulge in such strange fadt Well, in my youth made 3 study of anatomy, and became intensely inter- ested 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 o4 skulls in 1887. During excavations in St. Joseph on property in the possession of my father several specimens of an ancient race were exhumed. and strlightway found . resting place upon shelf in . cabinet in my homo. I wis fted the former home of tho mound builder in Colorado and New Mexico. whore other specimens of tho ancient inhabitants were discovered. They dif~ fer materially from the skulls found in St. Joseph. Then visited the holy land fin search of specimens. From there l drifted to tho lands of the Ptolemies of Egypt. Here some valuable acduisi- tions were made. I have tramped over the Pampas of South America, the noun tains of Peru and Chili. and even psns- trated Into the wildernesses of the Ana .zon, where. in deposits of earth and stone, I have brought to light perfect specimens of humar skulls. represent ing periods whicL History does not chronicle.
 "In my experiments have found tha4 some skulls tate on very beautiful polish, and must say that, under tho hand of a skilled artisan, they are made magnificent. These specimens occupy . cabinet by themselves. have . number of skulls taken from the wreck of the Galveston storm. also have specimens from other disasters on this and other continents. Five victims of the Mont Pelee disaster are represented in my collection. This business of collecting skulls Is a great aid in tho 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 , a means of gratifying tho 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 headA philisophizing, after tho fashion of the grave digger in Hamlet. upon tho brev- ity of human life"