Newport daily independent., 1904-09-13
HUNTSHUMAN SKULLS
Peculiar Hobby Which Occupies
 Leisure Time of a Texan.
Has visited Many Lands and Coun. tries in Search of the odd Curtos and He Has an Interest,"
 ing Collection.

The following advertisement appeared in the newspapers of St. Joseph. Mo-. rs- gently:
 "Wanted-Human skulls! must be IF good condition: will pay liberally 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 arc specimens taken from various burying grounds that have ksen unearthed In the ex- cavations for buildings on sites that hundreds of years SEQ were repositories for the dead of the ancient red man.
 T have now in my possession s4s perfect specimens of human skulls." says MT. Jenkins. "They represent the hu- man of many ages, and Ind them an interesting study indeed. How did como to indulge in such a strange fad! We'll, in my youth made study of anatomy. and became intensely inter- ested in tho construction of the human frame. I gradually acquired taste Tor this form of bric-a-brac.
 "I got my real start as a collector of 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 straightway found resting place upon . shelf in . cabinet in my home. l wis., ited the former home of the mound builder in Colorado and New Mexico. where other specimens of the ancient inhabitants were discovered. They diff fer materially from the skulls found in St. Joseph. Then visited the holy land in search of specimens. From there drifted to the lands of the Ptolemies of Egypt. Here some valuable acquisi- tions were made. have tramped over the Pampas of South America, the noun tains of Peru and Chili, and even pene- trated into the wildernesses of the Ana xon. where. in deposits of earth and stone, I have brought to light perfect specimens of human skulls. represent ing periods which history do>s not chronicle.
 "In my experiments have found that some skulls take on . very beautiful polish, and I must say that, under the hand of . skilled artisan, they are made magnificent. These specimens occupy . cabinet by themselves. have . number of skulls taken from the wreck of the Galveston storm. I 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 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 I came to have them 1 do not care to say. However. money b . means of gratifying 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 heads
 philisophizing. after the fashion of the
 grave digger in Hamlet. upon the brev- tty of human life."