HARRY W. NICE, GOVERNOR. 943

or she shall have convincing evidence, they shall appear
before any Justice of the Peace in said County before
whom they shall make oath in due form of law that they
have lost sheep or turkeys as the case may be, and that
they have reason to believe that the same were destroyed
or injured by dogs not belonging to them or the members
of his or her household; stating the election district where-
in they reside, the time as near as possible when they be-
lieve the same to have happened, the reasons leading them
to believe that the same was caused by dogs; that the sheep
or turkeys, as the case may be, were the property of the
affiant, and that he or she has never been reimbursed for
the loss of same, and that they have no knowledge of any
fact pertinent nor material to the loss, which if divulged
would prejudice their rights to recover out of said fund,
whereupon the Justice of the Peace and. the affiant shall
both subscribe their names to said affidavit the affiant pay-
ing said Justice of the Peace the sum of twenty-five cents
therefor; and provided further that before any award of
damages shall be paid under this Section, the owner of the
sheep or turkeys destroyed or injured shall, within twenty-
four hours after he, she or it has notice of such destruction
or injury, notify the Sheriff of Howard County and ac-
quaint him with the damage done and the location of the
remains or carcasses of the sheep or turkeys so destroyed
or injured. Within twenty-four hours after receiving such
notice, the Sheriff or a deputy sheriff shall cause an in-
spection to be made and shall report his findings in writing
to the County Commissioners within forty-eight hours
thereafter, and said affiant having complied with the above
mentioned requirements shall produce the above described
affidavit before the County Commissioners at their next
regular meeting day, 'or as soon thereafter as practicable,
when he or she shall be examined by them as to the circum-
stances surrounding the killing or injuring of said sheep
or turkeys so far as he or she shall have knowledge of the
same, and if, in the opinion of the said County Commis-
sioners, the claim shall be a just one, they shall give an
order for the payment of the same according to the sched-
ule of rates which they shall prescribe therefor, which
schedule they shall have published in some newspaper
printed in Howard County for at least once a week for
three successive weeks, before the first day of June, 1914,
and before the first day of April each and every year there-
after, which amounts in the cases of applications for the
loss of sheep shall in no case exceed the value for which
said sheep are assessed upon the assessment books of How-