§ 282. Packages to be opened and contents sold; proceeds of sale. In
case the said property shall remain unclaimed for sixty days after the
said publication, it shall be the duty of the person or company having
possession thereof, to apply to a magistrate of the town or city in
which said property is retained, in whose presence and under whose
direction said property shall be opened and examined, and an inventory
thereof taken by said magistrate; and if the name and residence of the
owner is ascertained by such examination, it shall be the duty of the
magistrate forthwith to direct a notice thereof to such owner, by mail;
and if said property shall remain unclaimed for three months after such
examination, it shall be the further duty of the person or company
having possession thereof to apply to a magistrate as aforesaid; and if
said magistrate shall deem such property of sufficient value, he shall
cause the same to be sold at public auction, giving six days' previous
notice of the time and place of such sale; and from the proceeds of such
sale he shall pay the charges and expenses legally incurred in respect
to said property, or a ratable proportion thereof to each claimant, if
insufficient for the payment of the whole amount; and the balance of the
proceeds of such sale, if any, the said magistrate shall immediately pay
to the public welfare officials of said town or city, for the use of the
poor thereof; and the said public welfare officials shall make an entry
of such amount, and the time of receiving the same, upon their official
records, and it shall be subject, at any time within seven years
thereafter, to be reclaimed by, and refunded to, the owner of such
property, his heirs or assigns, on satisfactory proof of such ownership.