TALBOT COUNTY. 1155

able to said County Treasurer, as provided for under Section 3
of this Act, to the credit of a fund to be known as the "Sheep
Fund" of the county; and the Treasurer shall, on or before the
first day of April of each year, file in the office of the County
Commissioners the books used by him in registering the names
of persons from whom he received said tax on dogs and sluts,
and at the same time shall also file a list of the owners of dogs
and sluts who have not paid the tax due from them, attaching
thereto a statement showing the number of dogs and sluts for
which no owners could be found.

SEC. 14. And be it enacted, That the tax collected from the
owners of dogs or sluts shall be devoted first to the remunera-
tion of inhabitants of the county for losses sustained by sheep
or poultry destroyed or injured by dogs or sluts; but if there
remain in the county treasury to the credit of the "Sheep
Fund" on the first day of September of each year a sum more
than sufficient to pay the awards for damages to sheep or poul-
try made by the Commissioners prior to that date, such surplus
shall, upon the order of the Commissioners of Talbot County,
be by them devoted to the purposes of education.

SEC. 15. And be it enacted. That when an inhabitant of Tal-
bot County shall have any sheep or poultry destroyed or in-
jured by dogs or sluts, he may apply to any justice of the peace
of said county, who shall appoint three disinterested persons
as appraisers to view and appraise the damages by him sus-
tained, and they, or a majority of them, shall under oath state
in writing to the County Commissioners the number of sheep
or poultry killed, the character and extent of the injury done
to the flock or any portion thereof, and the amount of dam-
ages sustained by the owner, and in like manner they shall
give a general description of both the destroyed and injured
sheep or poultry; and both the appraisers and the owner of the
sheep or poultry shall make oath that they believe the sheep or
poultry to have been destroyed or injured by dogs or sluts;
and they, or either of them, if the dogs or sluts by which the
damage was done be known to them, or either of them, shall
state under oath the names of the owners of said dogs or sluts;
and when the report of such proceedings shall have been filed
in the office of the County Commissioners, the said Commis-
sioners shall review said report, and if in their judgment the
amount of damages stated is unfair, they shall award such
amount as they may deem fair; provided, that before the Com-
missioners shall make any award of damages for the killing of
sheep or poultry the person claiming damages shall be required
to prove to the satisfaction of the County Commissioners that
he does not know and is unable with reasonable diligence to