ST. MARY'S COUNTY. 4351

land necessary therefor if he, she or they be competent to contract; and
in case the County Commissioners shall so contract they shall cause a plat
of the said road to be made by the County Road Engineer and filed and
recorded in the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court for St. Mary's
County, with the deed or deeds conveying the land so acquired, which
plat shall be referred to in and shall be a part of said deed or deeds, and
the lands so conveyed shall be and become thenceforth the property of
St. Mary's County, and be subject to the purposes and uses for which
granted. If, however, the County Commissioners aforesaid shall proceed
by condemnation in the exercise of the powers herein granted, all benefits
and damages done, suffered or incurred by laying out, opening, and mak-
ing of new roads, bridges or drains, or by altering, straightening, widen-
ing, grading, improving or closing up, in part or in whole, any existing
public roads, bridges or drains, shall be determined or assessed by three
persons, residents of St. Mary's County and above the age of twenty-one
years, of which the County Road Engineer shall be one, who shall be
appointed by the County Commissioners aforesaid, and shall, within ten
days after notice of their appointment, take an oath before a justice of
the peace of St. Mary's County that they will faithfully and fairly and
without partiality or prejudice value and assess the cost of damages to
be suffered and incurred by any persons interested in the said property
over, through and by which the said road, bridge or drain is to be opened,
closed, extended, widened, graded or improved; and also to estimate the
benefits that may accrue therefrom to any such property owner, through
and by which the said road, bridge or drain is to be opened, closed, ex-
tended, widened, graded or improved or any property adj acent thereto, or
any other property injured or benefited by said road, bridge or drain;
they shall give at least fifteen days' notice in a newspaper published in
St. Mary's County of their purpose to lay out, open, extend, close up,
widen, straighten, grade or improve the road, bridge, or drain as directed
to be laid out, opened, extended, closed up, widened, straightened, graded
or improved and of the day, hour and place of meeting for that purpose;
and they shall meet at the time and place mentioned in the notice given
by them and proceed to exercise the powers and perform the duty assigned
to and required of them, and to ascertain whether any and what amount
in value of the damages will be caused thereby for which the owner or
occupant of any rights or interest, claimed in any ground or improvement
ought to be compensated, over and above the amount in value of benefits
which will thereby accrue to said owner or occupant thereof, and ascertain
what amount in value of benefits will thereby accrue to any lot or parcel
of ground by or through which the same may pass, or improvements made,
or any other property or to the owner or occupant thereof, and which said
lot or parcel of ground, or the owner or occupant thereof ought to pay.
They shall locate boundaries and prepare an explanatory map giving a
description of the road opened, closed, extended, widened, straightened, or
bridge or drain, with each separate lot or parcel of ground deemed to have
sustained damage or received benefit, and they shall, within twenty days,
return to the County Commissioners such maps, together with the amount