§ 130. Powers and duties of sheriff. The sheriff of every county in
which any wrecked property shall be found, when no owner or other person
entitled to the possession of such property shall appear, shall
severally take all necessary measures for saving and securing such
property; take possession thereof, in whose hands soever the same may
be, in the name of the people of the state; cause the value thereof to
be appraised by disinterested persons, and keep the same in some safe
place to answer the claims of the persons entitled thereto.