The plaintiff shall within two years after final judgment pay the amount assessed as compensation or damages and upon failure so to do all rights which may have been obtained by the judgment shall be lost to the plaintiff; and if such payment is delayed more than thirty days after final judgment, then interest shall be added at the rate of five per cent a year. The payment shall be made to the clerk of the court rendering the judgment. The plaintiff shall within thirty days after the payment deposit in the mails of the United States a written notice addressed to the defendants, who have filed answers or appeared in court in the proceedings, or to their attorneys of record in the proceedings, if so represented, at their last known address, that the payment has been made, and the clerk of the court shall distribute the payment to those entitled thereto in accordance with the order of the court. If the plaintiff fails to make the payment as aforesaid, the defendant shall be entitled to recover judgment as provided in § 101-27. If the plaintiff fails to give written notice of the payment as aforesaid, interest shall be added on the amount thereof at the rate of five per cent a year until the written notice is placed in the mails or until the defendant receives from the clerk of court the amount to which the defendant is entitled under the terms of the order of court, whichever event shall first occur.