Chap. 160.—An ACT to incorporate the Mineral railroad company.

Approved May 6, 1887.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
John P. Agnew, Park Agnew, Lorenzo D. Scott, Robert An-
drews, Benjamin Vaughan, Francis L. Smith, and Archibald
Greenless, or any five of them, their associates, successors,
and assigns, be and they are hereby made and declared a
body politic and corporate by the name and style of the
Mineral railroad company, for the purpose of constructing,
equipping, maintaining, and operating a railroad between the
town of trasburg, in the State of Virginia, and Piedmont,
or such other point as may be selected in the State of West
Virginia; said railroad to be built to the West Virginia line
through the counties of Shenandoah and Frederick, or cither
of them. Said company shall have perpetual succession and
a common seal, which it may renew or alter at pleasure, and
may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and
be contracted with, and make ordinances, by-laws, and regu-
lations not inconsistent with the provisions of this act, the
laws of this State, or of the United States, for the govern-
ment of its officers and agents, and the proper conduct of its
affairs. The principal office of suid company shall be in the
city of Alexandria, Virginia.

2. The capital stock of the company in the State of Vir-
ginia shall be one million dollars, and all the shares issued
by said company may be of the par value of fifty dollars
each, or all of the par value of one hundred dollars each.
All of said capital stock may be common stock, or part of it
may be common stock and part of it preferred stock, in such
proportions as the said corporators may determine. And if
any be declared to be preferred stock, then the principal and
guaranteed dividends upon said preferred stock shall consti-
tute and be the first, prior, and paramount lien upon the
works, property, and franchises of said company.

3. The said company may receive subscriptions to its
capital stock in cash, land, labor, materials, and equipment,
at such valuation as may be agreed upon between said com-
pany and the subscribers, and may make such subscriptions
payable in such manner and in such amounts and at such
time or times as may be agreed upon between said company
and the subscribers. And it shall be lawful for said company
to receive and hold the title to all lands so acquired, and also
to such lands as it may acquire by purchase or voluntary
grant, and to possess, occupy, Manage, improve, operate, and
develop the same as fully as a natural person could lawfully
do. or to sell, lease, and convey at pleasure, or mortgage or
encumber its said lands, upon such terms and for such ob-
jects as the interest and the business of the said company
may require: provided that is shall not so hold more than
ten thousand acres at any one time, and it shall not hold it
for more than twenty years.

4. Said company shall be and is hereby authorized and
empowered to survey, locate, and construct, equip, maintain,
and operate a line of railway of standard gauge, that is to
say, not less than four feet cight inches, or four feet eight
and one-half inches in width, with a single or double track,
from the town of Strasburg, in the county of Shenandoah,
through the counties of Shenandoah and Frederick, or cither
of them, to a point in either of said counties bordering on the
State of West Virginia, and to that end the said company is
invested with all the powers conterred by the general laws
of this State, and subject to all the restrictions of the same
relating to railway companies not inconsistent with this act.

5. Said company shall have power to borrow money to
such an amount as it may deem proper after one hundred
thousand dollars of its capital stock has been subscribed, and
to issue for any loan, debentures, or bonds of the company,
bearing interest at such a rate per annum as the company
may determine, not exceeding six per centum; said deben-
tures or bonds may be expressed in dollars or in pounds ster-
ling, or in funds, and to secure the payment of such loan or
loans, principal and interest, said company may execute one
or more mortgages or deeds of trust upon the whole or any
part of its property, (real, personal, and mixced,) its charter,
rights, franchises, and income.

6. It shall be lawful for said company to construct, equip,
and maintain lateral or branch railroads or tramways of any
guage whatever, not exceeding twenty miles each in length,
which shall have all the rights and powers, and be subject to
the same restrictions as the main line. "

7. It shall be lawful for any incorporated company to aid
in the construction of said railway, and for that purpose may
acquire the bonds of the company hereby created; and the
company hereby incorporated, may run, use, or operate, by
lease, consolidation, or otherwise, any railway or transporta-
tion line upon such terms as may be ayreed upon, or may
itself be run, used, or operated by lease, consolidation, or
otherwise by any other railway or transportation line upon
such terms as may be agreed upon between them: provided
this company shall not be leased or consolidated with a par-
allel or competing line: and provided further, if this company
should ever be consolidated with any foreign corporation in
accordance with the provisions of this section, the consoli-
dated company shall always remain a Virginia corporation in
regard to the right of suing and being sued.

8. The corporators herein mentioned shall have the powers
and authority of a president and board of directors for the
purpose of the organization of said company, and for all othor
purposes, until a president and board of directors shall be
elected at a stockholders meeting, and such meeting shall be
held upon such notice given in such manner as the said cor-

orators may deem proper when one hundred thousand dol-
Tare of the capital stock of said company shall have been sub-
scribed. ;

9. The said company shall be required to commence the
construction of said railroad in this State within two years
from the passage of this act, and to complete the same within
five years thereafter; otherwise the powers, privileges, and
franchises hereby granted shall be ipso facto void.

10. Said company shall have the power to cross at grade,
over, or under, join or unite its railroad with any other rail-
road now built or constructed, or bereafter to be built and
constructed within this State, at any point on its route, and
upon the grounds of such railroad company, with the ncces-
sary turn-outs, sidings, and switches and other conveniences
in furtherance of objects of its connections. All acts and
parts of acts in conflict with the provisions of this section are

ereby repealed.

11. This act shall be subject to repeal, amendment, or
modification at the pleasure of the general assembly, and it is
agreed that the said company will always pay its taxes in
lawful money of the United States or in gold or silver.

12. This act shall be in force from its passage.