Newport daily independent., 1905-01-27
HUNTS HUMAN 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.
 fng Collection.

The following advertisement appeared in the newspapers of St. Joseph, Mo-. fs- gently:
 ''Wanted-Humar skulls! must be in 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 are specimens taken from various burying grounds that have ksen unearthed in the ex- eavations 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 S4s perfect specimens of human skulls. says MF. Jenkins. "They represent the hu- man of many ages, and hnd them an interesting study indeed. How did como to indulge in such strange fad? Well, in my youth made study of anatomy, and became intensely inter- ested in the construction of the human frame. I gradually acquired a taste for this form of bric-a-brac.
 T got my real start as collector e& skulls in 1887. During excavations ln St. Joseph on property in the possession Of my father several specimens of an ancient race were exhumed, and Etraightway found resting place upon . shelf in cabinet in my home. l vis- fted tho former home of the mound builder in Colorado and New Mexico. where other specimens of the ancient inhabitants were discovered. They dif~ 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 I have tramped over the Pampas of South America, the noun tains of Peru and Chilli, and even psne- trated into the wildernesses of the Anna xon, where, ia deposits of earth and stone, | have brought to light perfect specimens of humaE skulls, represent ing periods whicL History does not chronicle.
 "In my experiments have found that some skulls tabe 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 tho 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 . great aid in the study and re- tentfon of important facts in history. ! have in my possession the skulls of men at times prominent in the history of thls nation. How came to have them do not care to say. However, money . a means of gratifying the tastes of anyone who cares to mako . collection ,f this kind. Because havs acquired liking for this work, spend much time auring the winter months wandering shout between rows of grinning heads ehilisophixing. after the fashion of the crave digger in Hamlet. upon the brev. tty of human life."