Whenever the loss or destruction of any such record or part thereof shall have happened, and such defect cannot be supplied, as provided in the next preceding section, any person interested therein may make a written application to the proper court of the county wherein the records were kept, verified by affidavit, showing the loss or destruction thereof; that certified copies thereof cannot be obtained by the person making such application; the substance of the record so lost or destroyed; that such loss or destruction occurred without the fault or neglect of the person making such application, and that the loss or destruction of such record, unless supplied, will or may result in damage to the person making such application; and thereupon said court shall cause said application to be entered of record in said court, and due notice of said application shall be given that said application will be heard by said court. And if, upon such hearing, said court shall be satisfied that the statements contained in said written application are true, said court shall make an order, reciting the substance and effect of said lost or destroyed record; which order shall be entered of record in said court, and have the same effect which said original record would have had if the same had not been lost or destroyed, so far as concerns the person making such application, and the persons who shall have been notified, as provided in this section. The record, in all cases where the proceeding was in rem, and no personal service was had, may be supplied upon like notice, as nearly as may be, as in the original proceeding. The court in which the application is pending may, in all cases in which publication is required, direct, by order, to be entered of record, the form of the notice, and designate the newspaper in which the same shall be published.
R.L. 1910, § 7268.