ALBERT C. RITCHIE, GOVERNOR.                1165

the owner or owners of said property who are residents of said
district either by delivering to them a copy thereof or by
leaving said copy at the usual place of abode of said owner
with a member of his household above the age of eighteen
years, at least ten days before said hearing. Owners of prop-
erty not residing within the limits of said district shall be
served with said notice by publishing the same three times in
some newspaper of general circulation in said district, the
last publication to be not less than ten days before said hear-
ing, and by posting a copy of said notice in a conspicuous
place upon the property in question.

If after the hearing the Board shall be of the opinion that
the health, morals, safety or welfare requires the work or im-
provement proposed to be done or made, it shall provide by
ordinance for the work and may charge the expense thereof or
any part of such expense against the property which it shall
find to be specially benefited thereby according to the linear
frontage of said property, and it shall also provide in said
ordinance the time and - terms upon which payment of said
assessment for such work and improvement shall be made by
said property owners and the rate of interest that shall be
charged upon the deferred payments. Assessments so levied as,
aforesaid shall be a lien upon the property against which they
are charged superior to all other liens from the date of the
ordinance imposing such assessment.

In all cases where service is required by the provisions of
this Act upon any resident of the district, such service shall
be made by any police officer of Montgomery County whose
return in writing reciting the fact of such service and the
time and manner thereof shall be prima facie evidence of the
fact of such service. The cost of publication of any notice
required by this section shall be assessed against the owner of
the property charged with such special assessment and become
a lien upon such property and be collected with said assessment
as hereinafter provided.

All assessments or any installment levied hereunder when-
ever overdue according to the terms of the ordinance providing
therefor, may be collected in the manner in which general
taxes due said county are now or may hereafter be collected
under the provisions of the general and local laws of the State
of Maryland and any sale made for the non-payment of such
assessment and any deed made pursuant to such sale shall be
entitled to all the presumptions as to validity that now or may