202                              Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 166

he shall forthwith so inform the County Commissioners of [said]
the county, and if the owners of such property consent to the opening
of such outlet or watercourses, and if such owners and the [said]
County Commissioners [shall] agree upon the value and price to be
paid for the same, then such consent and agreement shall be entered
on the books of the Commissioners, and such outlet or water-
course shall be opened by the [said] County Road Engineer [, but
if]. If the owners and the County Commissioners shall fail to agree,
then the [said] County Commissioners shall have such power and
authority to condemn the land for such outlet or watercourse as is
now or hereafter may be conferred by the Code of Public General
Laws of the State of Maryland for condemning public highways, and
shall appoint three examiners to go over such proposed outlet or
watercourse for such drainage, who, or a majority of whom shall
estimate the damage to the owner or owners of the land through
which said outlet or watercourse may be opened, and the County
Commissioners shall tender to the owner or owners of said land the
amount of damages so estimated or ascertained by said examiners or
a majority of them, and so soon as the same is tendered to the owner
or owners of said property, the [said] County Road Engineer shall
immediately cause such outlet or watercourse to be opened [, said] .
The County Road Engineer shall furnish said examiners with a plat
showing the proposed location and profile of such outlet or water-
course, and for the purpose of making [such] the plat and profile
the [said] County Road Engineer is authorized to go upon any pri-
vate property through which said proposed outlet or watercourse
shall pass, and to make whatever survey or surveys [that] he may
deem necessary for such purpose; provided, that any such outlet or
watercourse shall not be opened so as to pass through the buildings,
gardens, yard or burial grounds of any person without the consent
of the owner in writing. The County Commissioners are authorized
and directed to provide reasonable compensation for any injury or
damage resulting from any such survey on private property.

307.    Any person or corporation placing any obstructions of any
kind whatsoever upon the public highways or bridges, roads, lanes,
streets, avenues or alleys of Kent County, or interfering with or
obstructing any of the ditches or drains thereof, or encroaching upon
the same with fences or other obstructions, or any person or corpo-
ration, its agents or employees, exercising the business of a common
carrier, permitting his or its vehicles, steam or other engines or cars
to obstruct any crossing for more than five minutes for any one
time, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be liable to prose-
cution at the instance of any taxpayer of said county, and upon con-
viction by any Justice of the Peace exercising criminal jurisdiction
in Kent County, shall be fined in an amount not less than [one dollar
nor more than] twenty-five dollars or more than one hundred dollars
for each offense. Any person arrested under this section shall have
the right to appeal to the Circuit Court for said Kent County for
(trial, and all fines collected under this section shall be paid to the
[said] County Commissioners and by them applied to the general
road fund of the county.

308.    The use of his office by the Road Engineer to advance the
political fortune or aspiration of any man or the purchasing of
material by him for the roads at unfair prices or knowingly recom-
mending unjust bills to the County Commissioners for payment or