196

LAWS OF MARYLAND.

parties interested or by the county, as the said
Commissioner may prescribe.

Notice to be
given.

Sec. 4. And be it enacted, That the said Com-
missioner shall notify, by circular or otherwise, all
persons having original deeds or other instruments
of writing or papers which have been recorded in
the office of the Clerk of the Circuit Court of said
county, the record of which has been wholly or
partially destroyed by fire, to file said originals
with the Clerk of the said Circuit Court, and shall
also prescribe the time and place of sitting of the
said Commissioner, which shall be at the court
house in said county.

Index as evi-
dence.

Sec. 5. And be it enacted, That in all cases
where, in the judgment of the Commissioner ap-
pointed by this act, any record in the office of the
Clerk of the Circuit Court for said county, shall
have been so burnt or defaced as to be wholly de-
stroyed by fire, and the index to such record, or
the general index, may supply the titling to such
records, he shall take and accept said index as
auxiliary evidence, and shall, if the original papers
are a certified copy thereof, properly evidenced, as
of record, be produced, order and direct such ori-
ginal paper or copy, as the case may be, to be
recorded anew by the Clerk of the Circuit Court
for said county, and shall endorse such order on
said paper, which endorsement and new record of
such paper shall be prima facie evidence of the
verity of the record so made, and available for all
purposes for which the original record, if it had
not been destroyed by fire, would have been avail-
able in evidence.

Commission-
er to hear evi-
dence.

Sec. 6. And be it enacted, That in all cases where
any record or paper shall be wholly destroyed by
fire, and the original or certified copy thereof can-
not be procured, it shall be the duty of the Com-
missioner, if the said record be found indexed, to
hear and receive such other evidence, if any there
be within the record office, either to be derived
from the remains of the burnt record or otherwise,
and such extrinsic evidence as the parties inter-
ested may supply, and shall determine and adjudge
in the premises whether the said record or paper
be fully established, and if satisfied by such evi-
dence, it shall be his duty, if the party or parties