Chap. 61.—An ACT to incorporate the Virginia mineral railway company.

Approved January 16, 1896.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Wil
liam A. Anderson, Archer A. Phlegar, John W. Robinson, T. J. Shic-
kel, J. W. F. Allemong, H. S. Trout, James C. Langhorne, and D. B
Strouse and R. H. Logan, or such of them as may accept the provi-
sions of this act, and such other persons and corporations as may
become associated with them in the manner hereinafter provided.
shall be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate by the
name of the Virginia mineral railway company, and by that name
shall have all the powers, rights, and franchises necessary and pro-
per to construct, equip, operate, and maintain a railroad, to be known
as the Virginia mineral railway company, and to be run from Salem,
in the county of Roanoke, by such route as the said company may
determine, through the counties of Roanoke, Montgomery, Pulaski,
Wythe, Smyth, and Washington, to the line of the state of Tennes-
see, at or nesr the south fork of the Holston river, or through the
counties of Floyd, Carroll, and Grayson, to the Tennessee or North
Carolina line, or through the county of Patrick to some suitable
point on the North Carolina line, or through Montgomery and Giles
counties to the Pocahontas coal-field, or through Craig county by
such route as may be selected to the Potts creek iron-field, and to
any connecting line of railroad; and the said company shall have
power to purchase and hold mineral and timber lands for the pur-
pose of working the same in order to furnish tonnage to its road,
and to lease or sell the same, and to construct such branch lines as
the company may see fit, no such line to exceed twenty-five miles in
length. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less
than one million dollars, nor more than four millions dollars, to be
divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, each share being
entitled to one vote; and it shall be lawful for the persons herein-
before named, or any five of them, to organize the company by the
election of a president and board of directors and such other offi-
cers a8 may be necessary; and thereupon they shall have and exer-
cise all the general powers and functions of a corporation, and be
subject to all the restrictions imposed by the laws of the state ap-
plicable to internal improvement companies, except so far as the
Same may be changed or modifiéd by this act. But the said com-
pany shall not commence the construction of the said road until
there is subscribed, by individuals or corporations, at least the sum
of two hundred thousand dollars; and any connecting railroad com-
pany, with the assent of this company, may subscribe to the said
Btooks and subscriptions thereto be made in money, materials, or
and.

The board of dirctors shall have power to issue bonds in sums of
not less than one hundred dollars each, bearing interest at not ex-
ceeding six per centum per annum, the principal and interest pay-
able at such times and places as the board of directors may deter-
mine, and may secure the same by one or more mortgages on the
road, franchises, incomes, and real and personal property of the
company, or such parts thereof as may be designated in the mort-
gages, and may lease its road-bed, rolling stock, and equipments, or
any of them, to any other company, ormay consolidate and merge
its capital stock, rights and franchises, with the capital stock, rights,
and privileges, with any other railroad corporation, either foreign or
domestic, and the company so formed may adopt the name of either
of the companies so consolidated or merged, or adopt a new name.

2. The said company is required to begin the work of construc-
tion within two years, and to complete its road within five years
from the passage of this act.

3. The said company shall pay all taxes and dues accruing to the
state of Virginia in lawful money of the United States, and not in
coupons.

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