EDWIN WARFIELD, ESQ., GOVERNOR.

1065

present in person or by agent, refuse to strike, the sheriff,
for him, her, it or them, may strike off four persons, and the
remaining twelve shall act as the jury of inquest of damages ;
and to each, before he acts as juror, the said sheriff shall

CHAP. 549

administer an oath or affirmation that he will justly and
impartially value the damage which the owner or owners will
sustain by the use and occupation of the property required
by the Mayor and Council, and assess the benefits to be
derived by the owner thereof from the proposed improve-
ment, and the said jury shall reduce their inquisition to
writing and sign and seal the same; and it then shall be
returned by the said sheriff to the Circuit Court for
Worcester county, and shall be filed by the clerk in his
office, and shall be confirmed by said court if no suffi-
cient cause to the contrary be shown within thirty days
after the time of filing the same, and when confirmed shall
be recorded by the clerk at the expense of the Mayor
and Council of Pocomoke City; but if the same be set
aside, the said court shall direct another inquisition to be
taken in the manner above described; and in case the
second or any other inquisition which is confirmed by the
court shall not award to the land owners a larger amount of
damages than was awarded by the first inquisition, the
court may, in its discretion, order the costs of the second or
other inquisition to be paid by the owner or owners of said

Oath to be
administered

land or materials condemned; and the inquisition shall in
all cases describe the property taken or the bounds of the
land condemned, and the quality or duration of the interest
in the same, and the valuation the jury have put upon it,
and the valuation the jury have put upon the benefit which
the owner of the condemned land will derive from the
proposed improvement; and the valuation of the land,
less the valuation of the benefits, when paid or tendered
to the owner or owners of property, his, her or their
legal representatives, or when paid into court under such
condition as the court may prescribe, shall entitle the
Mayor and Council of Pocomoke City to the estate and
interest in the same thus valued as if it had been legally
conveyed by the owner or owners of the same; and the val-
uation, if not received when tendered or paid into court may
at any time thereafter be recceived or recovered without
costs from the Mayor and Council by the owner or owners,

Description of
property
given.