Any person taking up drift lumber, rails, posts and other valuable lumber, or boats, scows, skiffs, barges or other craft, which may be found adrift in any of the rivers or other waters in, running through or bordering on this state, or lodged on the land in this state of any person, and who shall, in all things, comply with the requirements of this article, may demand of and recover from the owner of the same, as full compensation for his expense and labor in taking up and securing same the following amounts:
For single logs or other single pieces of drift lumber, rails, posts or other valuable lumber, $.12 each;
For joined sections of lumber or parts of rafts, $.10 for each log or timber or supporting piece of lumber, and $.25 for each and every 1,000 linear feet, but not exceeding a total of $5 for the entire joined section of lumber or part of raft;
For a whole raft, or for boats, skiffs, scows, barges or other craft, $5 for each.
N.J.S. § 2A:44-53