Massachusetts General Laws Part I. Administration of the Government (Ch. 1-182) Ch. 135, § 6

If goods carried by a railroad company, by express or in a vessel are not called for by the owner or consignee within one year after the date of their receipt at the place of consignment, they may be sold by public auction, notice of the time and place of sale, containing a descriptive list of all such goods with all such specific marks as may serve to identify the same, first being published once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper, if any, published in the town where such sale is to take place, and also in the town to which they were consigned, otherwise in the newspaper published nearest thereto. The proceeds, after deducting costs of transportation, storage, advertising and sale, shall be paid to the owner, upon demand and satisfactory proof of ownership, within three years after the sale; otherwise to the commonwealth.