114 LAWS OF MARYLAND [CH. 36

all such lands may be sold under a decree of the court of that county
or of the City of Baltimore, in which the proceedings to sell the
same shall be first commenced £, and in such case a copy of the bill,
decree and trustee's report of the sale shall be sent to the clerks of
the proper courts where such lands may respectively lie, to be dock-
eted, indexed and recorded, as provided in Section 100J.

119. In any case in which a burial ground has ceased to be used
for burial purposes, and the said ground has been dedicated and
used for burial purposes, and lots have been sold therein, and deeds
executed or certificates issued to purchasers thereof, and it shall be
considered desirable to dispose of said burial ground for other pur-
poses, an action for sale of said ground may be commenced in accord-
ance with the Maryland Rules. £upon a bill being filed in any of the
circuit courts of the State, in equity, in the city or county in which
said burial ground is situated, setting forth the aforegoing facts,
and containing the names of the lot owners or their assignees so
far as known, the court shall order notice by publication in one or
more newspapers published in the county or city where such burial
ground is situated, warning all the lot holders or other persons in
interest, residents or nonresidents, adults or infants, to appear in
court on or before the day fixed in said notice, to show cause why the
relief prayed for should not be granted; and said notice shall be
such as the court may direct, not less, however, than once a week
for four successive weeks two months before the day fixed by such
order for the appearance of the parties; and upon a failure of ap-
pearance by any of said lot owners, or any party in interest by the
time limited in said notice, the court may order testimony to be
taken ex parte, according to the usual course in equity in cases of
default for nonappearance; and upon testimony taken in the cause ex
parte, or otherwise, i] If it is made to appear to the satis-
faction of the court that it is expedient or would be to the interest
and advantage of the parties concerned that the said burial ground
should be sold, the court may forthwith pass a decree for the sale
of said ground upon such terms and notice as it shall deem proper,
and shall distribute the proceeds of sale among the parties interested
according to their several interests, as the same shall be shown to
the court; and before making said distribution the court may order
and direct that so much and such part of said proceeds of sale, as
shall be necessary for the purpose, shall be set aside and applied to
the removal and burial of any dead that may lie in said burial ground,
in the purchase of a lot in any cemetery, graveyard, or other appro-
priate place of sepulture, and in the expense of disinterment and
reinterment of said dead; and any decree passed in a proceed-
ing for a sale of a burial ground, as hereinbefore provided for, shall
be valid to pass to the purchaser or purchasers of said burial ground
the title of the same free, clear and discharged of, and from the
claims of the corporation or trustees who may hold the same, their
successors or assigns, and of all persons in interest as lot holders in
such ground, whether they are entitled as original lot holders, and
whether they be residents or nonresidents, adults or infants.

120. In any case within the boundary lines of Baltimore City
where all or more than 75% of the acreage of a cemetery or burial
ground, in which the land or property located therein has been
dedicated to or appropriated or used for burial purposes and lots