Newport daily independent., 1906-03-06
fCNrSNUMAN SKULLS
 @ Peculiar Ho5Ay Which Occupied Leisure Ii4e Of Texan.
Tns Visited Many Lands and Cuue- tries in search Of the odd CurioR and He Has an Interest,"
 inE Collection.

The following advertisement appeared ln the newspapers Of SL Joseph, Mo, fe' gently:
 Wauted-Eumar skulls! must be in good condition; will pay Itbera4y fo' inc specimens. Apply Hote. M. Charles W. Jenkins"
 Jenkins was 6 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 carios who has ever been q resident of that city Mir Jenkins Is very anxious to increase his collection of skulls. and in the pos. session of medical students, physiciaAs and colleges ot St. Joseph are specimens .&heu from 'ari0Gs oHrying grounds nat have zen uuearthed in the eX- 1gattons for buildings on sites that 4au1reds Of years ago were repositories for the dead of the ancient red man.
 q have HOW in my possession SSs perfect specimens of human skulls, says Mr. Jenkins. "Tbey represent the huv mar of many ages, and find them a1 interesting study indeed. How did l :onle to indulge in such a strange fad? We'll. in my youth 1 made study Of anatomy, and became intensely inter- .sted in the construction of the human came. gradually acquired taste for his form of bric-a-brac.
 Y got my real start as g collector ot s'zulls In 1887. During excavations tn 4e. Joseph Of property h the possession # my father several specimens of an ancient race were eXhUmed. and straiehtway found 8 resting place upon ! shelf in a cabinet in my home. vis' tied 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 tn St. Joseph Then visited the holy land in search of specimens. From there drifted to the lands of the Pt0lemies of Egypt. Here some valuable acquisi- tons were made. l have tran2ped over the Pampas of South America, the moun- tains of Peru and Chili, anG even pene- tYated into the wiidernesses of the Ama- yon, where in deposits of earth and stone, I have brought to light perfect specimens of human skulls, represent ing periods whicL History does pot chronicle.
 "In my experiments have found that some skulls tale on a very beautiful 1olish, and I must say that, under the hand of 9 skilled artisan, they are made magnifcent. These specimens occupy 8 cabinet by themselves, have number of skulls taken from the wreck of the Galveston storm. also have specimens from other disasters or this and other continents Five victims Of the Mont Pe,ee disaster are represented in my collection. This business of collecting skulls is a great aid in the study and re- fcrtion of important facts in history. ' hare in my possession the skulls of men Ii timaz pyominent in the history o4 is nation How came to have them c~ c- care 10 gay. However. money . means Of gratifying the tastes of .<~0na who cares 10 make collection ', lis kind Because have acquired ;ne fsr this work, spend much time :.~.rc the winter months wandering .saat between rows of grinning heads. ;isophiztrc. after the fashion of tn. s"eve digger in Hamlet, upon the brev-
 v of human fife"