Newport daily independent., 1905-04-10
HUNTS HUMAN SKULLS
Peculiar Hobby Which Occupies
 Leisure Time of a Texan.
ua. yfsited Many Lands and CSuA- tries in search of the odd Curtos and He Has an Interest-
 ing Collection.

]. The following a0Svertisement appeared
 the newspapers 0 st Joseph Mo-. r'- sently:
 ilood condition; will pAay literally for fine specimens. Apply KS Sotel M. Charles w. Jenkins"
 Jenkins was tempora,try resident of St. Joseph, where he hasA considerable realty interests, but his real home is in Corpus Christi, Tex. He hbas probably the oldest fad of any colledNor of curios who has ever been residenM of that city. MT. Jenkins Is very anxiouEs to increase / is collection of skulls, andSl In the pos- session of medical students. .'hy ysiclana and colleges of St. Joseph are'S, peclmens taken from various burying S..srounos that have tsen unearthed in ta:spe ex' cavations for buildings on site. !" tna' hundreds of years ago were reposIs ]of4e' for the dead of the ancient red mar T.
 "I have now in my possession Ss' perfect specimens of human skulls, saesays' sMr. Jenkins. "They represent the hu-l man of many ages, and find them an interesting study indeed. How did ! come to indulge In such strange fadf We'll, in my youth I made study ot anatomy, and became intensely inese- ested in the construction of the human irame. I gradually acquired taste TOT this form of bric-a-brac.
 "I got my real start as collector os skulls in 1887. During excavations In St. Joseph on property in the possession Of my father several specimens of an ancient race were exhumed. ana straightway found resting place upon . shelf in . cabinet in my homo. v1s- tied the 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 tn Sk Joseph. Then visited the holy land in search of specimens. From there drifted to tho lands of tho PtolemieS o4 Egypt. Here some valuable acquisf- tions were made. I have tramped over the Pampas of South America, the moun- tains of Peru and Ohili. and even pene- trated into tho wildernesees Of tho Anna BOus WncK0s III uOROoAto OA COL 1AA esSAN stone, I have brought to light perfect specimens of human skulls, represent Ing periods whick History does not chronicle.
 "In my experiments have found tAa4 some skulls take on very beautiful polish. and must say that, under the hand of a skilled artisan. they are mads 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 othev continents. Five victims of the Mont Pelee disaster are represented in my collection. This business of collecting skulls is 6 great aid in the study and re- tention of important facts in history. ! have In my possession the skulls of men gA times prominent in the history o( this nation. How came to have them 1 do not care to say. However, money h a means of gratifying the tastes of anyone who cares to make collection ,f this kind. Because have acquired c liking for this work. spend much time during the winter months wandering about between rows of grinning heads philisophizing. after the fashion of ths grave digger in Hamlet. upon tho brew ty of human life."