§ 282 — Packages to be opened and contents sold; proceeds of sale

§ 282. Packages to be opened and contents sold; proceeds of sale. In\ncase the said property shall remain unclaimed for sixty days after the\nsaid publication, it shall be the duty of the person or company having\npossession thereof, to apply to a magistrate of the town or city in\nwhich said property is retained, in whose presence and under whose\ndirection said property shall be opened and examined, and an inventory\nthereof taken by said magistrate; and if the name and residence of the\nowner is ascertained by such examination, it shall be the duty of the\nmagistrate forthwith to direct a notice thereof to such owner, by mail;\nand if said property shall remain unclaimed for three months after such\nexamination, it shall be the further duty of the person or company\nhaving possession thereof to apply to a magistrate as aforesaid; and if\nsaid magistrate shall deem such property of sufficient value, he shall\ncause the same to be sold at public auction, giving six days' previous\nnotice of the time and place of such sale; and from the proceeds of such\nsale he shall pay the charges and expenses legally incurred in respect\nto said property, or a ratable proportion thereof to each claimant, if\ninsufficient for the payment of the whole amount; and the balance of the\nproceeds of such sale, if any, the said magistrate shall immediately pay\nto the public welfare officials of said town or city, for the use of the\npoor thereof; and the said public welfare officials shall make an entry\nof such amount, and the time of receiving the same, upon their official\nrecords, and it shall be subject, at any time within seven years\nthereafter, to be reclaimed by, and refunded to, the owner of such\nproperty, his heirs or assigns, on satisfactory proof of such ownership.\n