TITLE LXX. AN ACT CONCERNING WRECKS, UNCLAIMED GOODS, CHAPTER I. OF WRECKS. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened: perty of wrecks SECTION 1. That if any ship, or other vessel, shall suffer ship- Persons and prowreck upon the coasts, or in the rivers, harbors, creeks, or waters, to be kept in of this state, there shall be no violence, or injury, offered to the per- safety. sons of the mariners, or passengers, or to the goods, belonging thereto; but such mariners and passengers shall be relieved and harbored; and their goods, and the goods of the vessel, shall be preserved in safety, until measures for preserving and securing the same shall be adopted in the manner hereinafter prescribed. erty, how se SECT. 2. Whenever any shipwrecked property shall be dis- Wrecked propcovered on the sea coast, or in the waters, rivers, harbors, or creeks, cured and dis of this state, the selectmen of the nearest town shall, and any other posed of.. person may, take the most effectual measures for saving and securing the same; and, if necessary, such selectmen, or other persons, shall apply to a justice of the peace, to grant a warrant, directed to some proper officer, to summon and impress requisite assistance for that purpose; and such selectmen, or other persons, securing such property, shall immediately give notice thereof to a judge of the superior court, who shall direct the sheriff of the county where the same shall have been secured, to seize said property, and to keep the same, until it shall be released, or disposed of, by order of the superior court in said county; and if any owner, or claimant, of such property, being entitled by the laws of the state, or by the laws of nations, to a restoration thereof, shall, within a year after such seizure, appear and claim the same, it shall be restored to him, on his paying, to the persons to whom the same may be due, such reasonable costs and salvage, as said superior court shall order; and if no such owner, or claimant, shall, within said time, appear and claim. said property, the same shall be sold, by order of said court, and the avails thereof, after deducting such reasonable costs and salvage,, shall be deposited in the treasury of the state; but if the property, so damaged, is of a perishable nature, said court may, at its discretion, direct it to be sold within the time limited as aforesaid, retaining the avails thereof, for the purposes for which said property was held; and if no owner, or claimant, shall appear within one month after such seizure, and pay, or offer to pay, such salvage and costs, said court may, at any time afterwards, order so much of said property to be sold, as shall be required to pay the same. CHAPTER II. OF UNCLAIMED GOODS AND STRAYS. 1546. Unclaimed goods, how proceeded with. 1954. Same subject. SECT. 3. All goods, wares, or merchandise, of a perishable nature, left with any person, and of which the owner is unknown, or if known, neglects to take them away after reasonable notice, shall be advertised at least one week, in a newspaper published in the county where such goods, wares, or merchandise, were left, or if no newspaper is published in said county, then in a newspaper published in an adjoining county, and if not then claimed and taken away, may be sold at public auction, under the inspection of the sheriff, or of either of his deputies, of the county where the same shall have been so left, and the proceeds of the sale, after deducting the expenses thereof, and the charges for which such goods, wares, or merchandise, may be liable, shall be deposited with the treasurer of the town where the same may have been left, and such treasurer shall hold the same, subject to the order of the owner thereof. SECT. 4. All goods, wares, or merchandise, of a nature not perish1858. 1864. able, left with any person, or upon any public wharf, or highway, and all goods, other than personal baggage of passengers, left at any railroad depot, station, or warehouse, within this state, or in any railroad car, or carriage, and of which the owner is unknown, or, if known, shall neglect to take them away for the space of six months from the time when they were left; and all goods, other than personal baggage, placed in the care or custody of any individual, company, or corporation, engaged in the business of transporting and forwarding goods, wares, and merchandise, to be delivered to any person in this state, who cannot after due search be found, and of which the owner is unknown, or, if known, shall neglect to take them away for the space of six months from the time when they came into the care or custody of any such individual, company, or corporation, shall be advertised one month in a newspaper, published in the county where such goods, wares, or merchandise were left, or, if no newspaper is published in said county, then in a newspaper published in an adjoining county; and if the owners of such goods, wares, or merchandise shall not take them away before the expiration of said one month, then such goods, wares, or merchandise may be sold at public auction, under the inspection of the sheriff, or of either of his deputies, of the county where the same were left, and the proceeds of the sale, after deducting the expenses there Proceeds, how disposed of of, and the charges for which such goods may be liable, shall be deposited with the treasurer of the town where such goods, wares, or merchandise were left, as aforesaid, and such treasurer shall hold the same, subject to the order of the owner thereof. posed of. SECT. 5. Whenever any person shall find any stray beast in a Lost goods and suffering condition, or any lost goods of the value of fifty cents, he say how dismay take the same into his possession, and shall immediately inform the owner thereof, if known, and if the owner thereof is not known, and the value of such beast or goods is not greater than five dollars, the finder or keeper thereof shall, within fourteen days after taking such beasts or goods into his possession, cause a description of such beast or goods, with the natural and artificial marks thereof, and the place where the same were found, and the name of the person in whose possession they are, to be registered by the town clerk of the town in which such beast or goods shall have been found; but if the value of such beast or goods is greater than five dollars, the finder or keeper thereof shall, within the time aforesaid, cause the said description to be advertised in a newspaper, published in the town nearest to the place where such beast or goods shall have been found; and if any person who shall find such beast or goods, or take such beast or goods into his possession, shall not inform the owner thereof, or cause a registry or advertisement thereof to be made as aforesaid, he shall forfeit the value of such beast or goods, one-half to him who shall sue therefor and prosecute the suit to effect, and the other half to the treasury of said town. in six months, to have restitution. SECT. 6. If the owner of such beast or goods shall, within six Owner claiming months after such information, registry, or advertisement, appear and make good his title to such beast or goods, he shall have restitution thereof, upon paying to the finder or keeper all proper charges in respect to the same, to be assessed, when the owner and finder or keeper cannot agree, by any justice of the peace qualified to judge between the parties. SECT. 7. If no owner shall appear, within the said six months Otherwise, to be after such beast or goods shall have been registered, or advertised, appraised." as aforesaid, the town clerk, or a justice of the peace, shall appoint two judicious and disinterested persons, who shall, under oath, appraise such beast or goods, according to the then just and true value thereof in money. in six months, to SECT. 8. If the owner shall appear within six months after such Owner appearing appraisement, and make good his title to such beast or goods, and have the goods, pay all proper charges in regard to the same, to be assessed as afore- &c., or the value. said, he shall have restitution of the same, or the value thereof, according to said appraisement, at the election of the finder or keeper. months, goods, SECT. 9. If no owner shall appear, within twelve months after the If no owner apregistering or advertising of such beast or goods, as aforesaid, the pears in twelve value thereof, according to said appraisement, after all proper charges &c., how disare deducted, shall belong to the treasury of the town where such beast or goods have been found, and the selectmen of such town may recover the same for the use of said town. posed of. at the risk of the owners. SECT. 10. If the finder or keeper of such beast or goods shall use Goods, &c., to be proper diligence in taking care of the same, such beast or goods shall be at the risk of the owner during the six months next after information shall have been given, or a registry shall have been made, or an advertisement published, as aforesaid. SECT. 11. Whenever any person shall take up any logs or timber Provisions in re- fairly marked, or any shingles or staves in bundles, floating in Congard to logs, tim- necticut, or Housatonic river, or which shall have floated down either wes, taken up of said rivers, he shall secure the same safely, and shall, within one in Connecticut, week thereafter, make a certificate under his hand, containing a her, shingies, and or Housatonic river. securing the description of the same, and specifying the kinds, size, length, and marks, of the logs and timber, and the number of bundles and kinds of the shingles and staves, and the names of the persons by whom they were taken up, and the places where they lie, and shall leave the same with the clerk or clerks with whom notices of lost goods or stray beasts are required by law to be left, and shall let such logs, timber, shingles, or staves, lie, without disposing of the same, or in any way defacing the marks thereon, for the term of six months after depositing such certificate, on penalty of forfeiting to the owner the sum of one dollar and sixty-seven cents for every log, or stick of timber, not exceeding thirty feet in length, and thirty-four dollars for every log, or stick of timber which exceeds thirty feet in length, and double the value of such shingles, or staves; and every person, who shall so take up and secure any logs, timber, shingles, or staves, and deposit a certificate of the same in manner aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive of the owner the sum of twenty cents for every log, or stick of timber, not exceeding thirty feet in length, and the same sum for every bundle of shingles or staves, and seventy cents for every log, or stick of timber, which exceeds thirty feet in length, and four cents and two mills of every such sum shall be paid to the clerk with whom said certificate is deposited. Owner to pay for SECT. 12. The owner shall not take away any such logs, timber, taking up and shingles, or staves, so taken up and secured, and of which a certificate has been so deposited, until he shall have paid to the person taking up and securing them, the several sums aforesaid, on penalty of forfeiting to such person the sum of one dollar and sixty-seven cents for every log, or stick of timber, not exceeding thirty feet in length, and seventeen dollars for every log, or stick of timber, exceeding that length, and double the value of the shingles or staves. May be sold if no six months, &c. SECT. 13. If the owner of said logs, timber, shingles, or staves, owner appears in shall not appear and claim the same, within six months after the cer tificate aforesaid shall have been deposited, the person taking up and securing them may dispose of them for his own use, and without being accountable to the owner. SECT. 14. No person shall stop, take up, or interrupt, any mast, yard, or spar, floating down Connecticut river, in this state, above Middletown, without permission of the owner, unless he shall carry the same into the cove at Wethersfield, on penalty of forfeiting to the owner double the amount of the damage which he shall sustain by reason thereof. TITLE LXXI. AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE COMPENSATION OF ASSEMBLY. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened: 1565. bers and clerks SECTION 1. That the salary of each member of the senate and house of representatives, and of each clerk of either house, shall be Salary of memthree dollars a day; and of the speaker of the house of representa- of general assem tives, five dollars a day; and for the travel of each of said members bly. and officers in going to and returning from the place of session, ten cents a mile, once going and once returning; but no member of either house shall receive compensation for more than forty-five days of actual session, not including Sundays. SECT. 2. Each member of either house shall report to the treas- Absence to be urer the number of days he has been absent during the session; and dedusted. the treasurer shall deduct such absence, in the settlement of his account. keepers. SECT. 3. The salary of the messengers of the senate, and of the Pay of messenhouse of representatives, and of each door-keeper of the senate and gers and doorhouse of representatives, shall be three dollars a day, for each day of actual session, without mileage or other compensation. SECT. 4. This act shall take effect from the first day of May, 1866. |