CHAP.
LXXXI.
Overseers ex-
empt, &c.
Several acts re-
pealed.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Passed 3d of
Jan. 1800.

Preamble.
 
 
 
 

A wreck-mas-
ter to be ap-
pointed, &c.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

XXI. AND BE IT ENACTED, That each and every overseer to be appointed by virtue of this act
shall, if they accept of their said appointment, be exempted from serving on juries to the general 
court for and during the time they shall respectively serve as overseer.

XXII. AND BE IT ENACTED, That from and after the first day of July next, that the act of as-
sembly passed at October session, one thousand seven hundred and four, entitled, An act for the 
marking of highways, and making the heads of rivers, creeks, branches and swamps, passable for
horse and foot, and the several supplementary acts thereto, the act passed at September session, one
thousand seven hundred and twenty-three, entitled, An act directing the manner of recovery of
fines for not appearing at the clearing of the highways, the act of assembly passed at October session,
one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, entitled, An act directing the manner of recovery of
fines for not appearing at the clearing of the highways, the act of assembly passed at October session,
one thousand seven hundred and fifty-three, entiteld, An act for repiring public roads in this
province, and the supplement thereto, the act passed at November session, one thousand seven hun-
dred and ninety-four, entitled, An act relating to public roads in this state, and to repeal the
acts of assembly therein mentioned, and the supplements thereto, so far as they relate to Kent
county, be and the same are hereby repealed.

                                 CHAP. LXXXII.
An ACT for appointing a wreck-master in Worcester county.    Lib. 
   JG. No. 3. fol. 346.

WHEREAS from the exposure of the south-east bounds of Worcester county to the Atlantic
ocean, many vessels have been and may hereafter be stranded on the sea-coast in the county
aforesaid, and the goods, or other property, belonging to such vessel or vessels may be embezzled and
stolen, to the great injury of the owners or insurers, and it would be highly expedient to appoint a
wreck-master in said county; therefore,

II. BE IT ENACTED, by the General Assembly of Maryland, That it shall be lawful for the governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the council, and he is hereby required, to nominate and ap-
point one discreet and sensible person, residing on or near the bya or sea shores of Worcester county,
to act in the office of a wreck-master, whose business and duty it shall be, on the earliest intelligence,
or on application to him made by or on behalf of any owner or commander of a ship or other vessel
being in danger of being stranded, or being stranded, to command any constable or constables, to be
appointed by him for that purpose, nearest the coast where such strip or vessel shall be in danger, to
summon as many men as shall be thought necessary to the assistance of such ship or vessel; and if there
shall be any ship or vessel belonging to any citizen of this state riding near the place, the wreck-
master shall have power to demand of the commanding officer of such ship or vessel assistance by their
boats, and such hands as they can conveniently spare; and if any commanding officer shall neglect to 
give such assistance, he shall forfeit one hundred pounds, to be recovered by the officer or owner of
the ship in distress, with costs, in any court of record within this state; and the wreck-master, and
the commanding officer of any ship or vessel, and all others who shall assist in preserving any ship or
other vessel in distress, or their cargoes, shall, within forty days, be paid a reasonable reward by the
commander or owner of the ship or other vessel in distress, or by the merchant whose vessel or goods
shall be saved, and in default thereof the vessel or goods shall remain in the custody of the wreck-
master until all charges be paid, or security given for that purpose, to the satisfaction of the parties;
and in case the parties shall disagree, touching the monies deserved by the persons employed, it shall
be lawful for the commander of such vessel saved, or the owner, supercargo or factor, of the goods
or mcerhandise saved, to call on either of the associate justices of the said county, giving the parties
interested at least five days notice of the time and place, for determining the quantum of salvage or
compensation to be paid, who is hereby authorised to determine the same in a summary way, and
whose judgement and determination shall be conclusive; and if the amount of such salvage so t be
adjudged be not paid within thirty days thereafter, the wreck-master is hereby authorised to sell any
of the goods, wares, merchandise, or articles saved, to the amount of the judgment, so determined
by the associate justice, from whose judgment or decision an appeal shall lie to the chief justice of the 
district, by any person or persons who shall or may consider him or themselves aggrieved by such de-
termination of the associate justice, whose duty it shall be to determine the same within thirty days
after such appeal, and if no appeal shall be made within ten days after such determination and deci-
sion of the associate justice aforesaid, such determination and decision shall be final and conclusive;
and if no person shall claim the goods saved, the wreck-master shall take possession thereof, and cause
a true description of the marks, numbers and kinds of such goods, to be advertised four weeks in the
Easton, Baltimore and Philadelphia news-papers; and if no person shall claim the same within three
months, public sale shall be made thereof by the said wreck-master, (but if perishable, the goods
                                                                                                                                      shall