444 LAWS OF MARYLAND. [Ch. 225]

of said sale and apportioned between the different delinquents.
Immediately after the sale of any real estate by said county
treasurer he shall report the same to the Circuit Court, and
if it appears from the report of sale that any of the said
delinquent taxpayers are non-residents of the State of Mary-
land, the said clerk shall issue and cause to be published an
order of publication to non-residents, as is required in suits
in equity. After the expiration of twelve months from the
date of filing said report the clerk of said Court shall cause
to be published an order of ratification nisi thereof, as is
required in sales made by said Court, sitting as a Court of
Equity, which order nisi shall include all sales made in said
report, and shall be published for three consecutive weeks in
the same newspapers in which said advertisement of sales of
real estate were published. After the due publication of the
said nisi order and before the final ratification of sale shall be
signed, the said treasurer shall file a supplementary report
showing the property redeemed, or excepted to, and that to
which exceptions have not been filed, so that the judge taking
cognizance of said report shall only ratify such sales as have
not been redeemed, or excepted to, or if excepted to, the excep-
tion shall have been dismissed. But where exceptions have
been filed to any tax sales, the exceptions shall be heard by the
Court in the usual manner that exceptions in Chancery are
generally heard; and if said exceptions, or any of them be sus-
tained, or overruled, the clerk shall enter on the docket "Excep-
tions sustained and sale set aside," or "Exceptions overruled
and sale ratified," as the facts may be, designating the specific
piece or parcel of property to which the rulings of the Court
may apply. If upon review of all the proceedings had in the
case of such tax sale, the Court considers that the law per-
taining to the same shall have been fully complied with, he
shall thereupon sign one general order of final ratification of
all such unredeemed sales, and the treasurer shall convey by
good and sufficient deed the real estate so sold to the pur-
chaser or purchasers thereof. In the said final ratification
of said sale, the Court shall include therein an order referring
all proceedings in the case to the regular anditor of the Court
for a statement of accounts and distribution of the moneys to
the parties duly entitled to the same. The said anditor, after
deducting the taxes, expenses and costs and before he shall
make said distribution, shall ascertain from the Court records
and claims filed in said proceedings if there are any creditors
of said delinquent taxpayers and distribute any surplus to said
creditors, according to the priority of their claims, and the bal-