374 LAND OFFICE. [ART. 54.

if the owners reside in the county where the lands lie, and if the
adjacent lands be occupied or unoccupied, and the owners do not
reside in the county, the surveyor shall give notice of the time
he will execute such warrant by advertisement in some daily
newspaper published in the city of Baltimore, not less than six
times, and the first publication to be at least two months before
the execution of such warrant.

23. The surveyor shall return to the Land Office, within one
year from the date of such warrant, a certificate of survey and
plot, together with the depositions relating to the possession and
occupancy of the lands re-surveyed, and proof of the notice, by
publication or otherwise, given to the owners or occupiers of the
adjacent lands, and upon the return of such certificate and proofs,
if no caveat or objection be made within six months after such
return, the Commissioner of the Land Office shall issue a patent
thereon to the person, or his heirs or assigns, who obtained such
warrant of re-survey.

24. Any person may obtain an escheat warrant by application
to the Commissioner of the Land Office, unless some other per-
son has obtained or is entitled to a warrant affecting the land.

25. Every escheat warrant shall be executed within twelve
months, and no escheat warrant shall be renewed after one year
from its date.

26*. Any person who has obtained a warrant to survey vacant
or escheat lands, shall, within one year from the date of such
warrant, unless the same be renewed, pay for the land included
in the certificate of survey, at the rates prescribed by the nine-
teenth section of this article, and shall in addition pay for such
improvements as may be on such vacant land.

27*. The person who first applies to the Commissioner of the
Land Office for a warrant during business hours, shall be entitled
to the same upon paying the usual fees and charges.

28. The value of all escheat lands and the improvements
thereon, and the real value of any improvements upon vacant
land, shall be returned and certified to by the surveyor, on oath,
at the time of returning his certificate of survey, and the Com-
missioner of the Land Office shall finally ascertain the value of
such land and improvements, and receive the money therefor