Section 48. The notice shall contain a description of the number and kind of vessels, the quantity and kind of alcoholic beverages seized, as nearly as may be, and shall state when and where they were seized. It shall, not less than fourteen days before the time appointed for the trial, be served by a sheriff, deputy sheriff, constable or police officer upon the person charged with being the keeper thereof by leaving an attested copy thereof with him personally or at his usual place of abode, if he is an inhabitant of the commonwealth, and by posting an attested copy on the building in which the beverages were seized, if they were found in a building; otherwise in a public place in the city or town in which the beverages were seized.