Chap. 250.—An ACT to incorporate the Catawba Valley Railway and Mining
Company.

Approved March 25, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Louis A.
Scholz, C. G. Smith, Henry Scholz, A. M. Bowman, and Robert W.
Kime, of the State of Virginia, their associates, successors, and assigns,
be, and they are hereby, constituted and created a body politic and cor-
porate by the name and style of the Catawba Valley Railway and Min-
ing Company, and as such shall have the power to sue and be sued, plead
and be impleaded, defend and be defended, make and use a common seal,
and to make and pass such by-laws, rules, and regulations for the manage-
ment and government of the affairs of the said corporation, and be en-
titled to exercise all the rights and privileges allowed other similar cor-
porations by the general laws of this State.

2. The capital stock of said Catawba Valley Railway and Mining Com-
pany shall not be less than two hundred thousand dollars nor more than
five hundred thousand dollars, divided into shares of the par value of
ten dollars each; and said capital stock may be increased, from time to
time, by a majority of the stockholders and directors, as provided in sec-
tion fourteen of this charter.

3. Said corporation is hereby authorized, empowered, and permitted
to erect, construct, equip, maintain, and operate a railway of standard
gauge, with one or more tracks, and also telegraph and telephone line or
lines, from any point it may select in the county or city of Roanoke,
and through said county or city, or any portion thereof, or through or
into the counties of Craig, Montgomery, Giles, and Botetourt, and to
any point or points in any of said counties named: provided, however,
that said telephone line or lines may enter and pass through city of
Roanoke and any other city or town only by and with consent of the
council thereof, and along and through the highways of the county of
Roanoke, and any other county by and with the consent of the board of
supervisors of the county thereof.

4. Subject to the general laws of this State, said corporation shall
have the power to construct lateral or branch roads from its main line,
to cross at grade, over or under any railroad now constructed or which
shall be constructed hereafter in this State, and shall have and exercise
all of the general powers and functions and be subject to all of the lia-
bilities of a common carrier.

5. The said corporation is hereby authorized to carry on the business
of developing, producing, and dealing in iron, coal, glass sands and
other ores, metals and minerals, salt, oil, natural gas, marble, lumber,
and other natural materials, and of mining, working, and quarrying,
smelting, manufacturing, transporting, and vending the same, and may
establish works and buildings for that purpose, and for these purposes
the said corporation shall have authority to buy, hold, sell, lease, or
otherwise dispose of any real or personal estate deemed necessary to the
proper prosecution of its business.

6. Said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to connect its
roads with any other road or roads at present existing in this State or
that may be built hereafter, and may enter the ground of such railroad
or railroads with such necessary sidings, switches, turnouts, conveniences,
and facilities as will aid in the furtherance of the construction of said
railway, or facilitate the exchange or handling of passengers and freight
between the said railway and other railroads in this State; and in all
cases in which the said corporation shall subject and hold ‘property or
any other company to its use, or acquire any of the same, it shall be in
the mode prescribed by law.

?. The said corporation may borrow money and issue bonds or such
other evidences of indebtedness therefor, and may secure the same, from
time to time, by mortgage or deed of trust upon any or all of its property
and franchises; and, from time to time, may issue and sell its bonds and
its capital stock at such price and on such terms as shall be specified by
resolution of a majority in amount of the stockholders at any meeting.

8. The said corporation may issue its capital stock in one or more
classes or kinds, and in one or more series or grades, with such prefer-
ences, conditions, and voting power as shall be prescribed and directed
in the resolution of the stockholders authorizing the issue of the same,
and, from time to time, may increase or decrease the amount of any class
or kind or grade of such stock as shall be authorized and directed either
at any general meeting or at a special meeting of the stockholders called
for that purpose.

9. It shall be lawful for any county, city, town, or corporation or indi-
vidual in or out of this State to guarantee, subscribe to, purchase, or
hold the capital stock or bonds of the said corporation, and said corpora-
tion shall have power to guarantee, subscribe to, purchase, sell, or hold
stock or bonds of any other railway, telegraph, or telephone company or
corporation, and, with the approval of a majority of its stockholders
given at any meeting, may, from time to time, lease, operate, purchase,
or otherwise acquire, or be consolidated with any other railroad or trans-
portation company now or hereafter incorporated by the laws of this
State, by change of name or otherwise, with the capital stock, property,
and franchises of any other railroad or transportation company, power
being hereby granted to any railroad or transportation company or com-
panies incorporated by or under any act or acts of the general assembly
of this State, with the approval of a majority of its or their shareholders,
respectively, given at a meeting, to make and carry out such contracts of
consolidation, lease, or sale: provided, that in all consolidations a copy
of the agreement thereof shall be filed in the office of the secretary of
the Commonwealth of Virginia, and that any corporation with which
the said corporation may consolidate, or which it may lease, shall be or
remain subject to the jurisdiction of the courts of this Commonwealth,
and all lines of railroad operated by it in the State of Virginia shall be
subject to the general laws of this State. Said corporation may, from
time to time, purchase, own, or hold bonds or other evidences of debt or
shares of the capital stock of any company or companies formed under
the laws of this or any other State, and, from time to time, may guaran-
tec or assume the bonds, evidences of indebtedness, of any company or
companies.

10. The said corporation may receive in payment for the whole or any
part of the subscription to its capital stock money, land, or other prop-
erty, bonds and stocks of other companies, mines, minerals, and mineral
rights, rights of way, materials, labor, or service, and at such prices as
may be agreed upon between the board of directors and each subscriber,
and there shall be no individual liability beyond the unpaid subscriptions.

11. For the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad, it
shall be lawful for any city, county, or town, by a vote of a majority of
the voters voting and a majority of the freeholders voting in said city,
county, or town, at the election ordered hereunder, to subscribe money
or bonds for the stock or bonds of said corporation, and to subscribe
money or bonds for the purchase of a right of way for the railroad of
said corporation under the terms and conditions set forth in the order of
the court or resolution of the council of such town authorizing such
vote, and the court of such county or city, or the council of such town
and such cities, counties, or towns shall order such election to be held,
by the regularly constituted authorities of such county, city, or town,
upon a petition of not less than one hundred freeholders, and such elec-
tion shall be held within three months from the entering of such order or
resolution, and are hereby empowered to make such subscription in the
usual mode prescribed by the law, and the board of supervisors, or the
council of such city, county, or town, as the case may be, are hereby em-
powered and directed to lay such levy upon the real and personal prop-
erty within such city, county, or town as may be necessary to provide
for the payment of the interest, and a sinking fund for the payment of
the amount of the subscription of said city, county, or town. Any such
city, county, or town, in order to aid and encourage the construction of
said road, may, by a majority vote of the board of supervisors of such
county or council of such city or town, rebate the city, county, or town
taxes for such a period as may be deemed best by the said board or coun-
cil. And it shall be lawful for the board of supervisors of any county or
the council of any city or town to grant the said corporation a right of
way through or across its roads or streets for the purpose of building
and operating its said road. It shall be lawful for any railroad company,
or other incorporated company, to subscribe to the stock of and aid in
the construction of said corporation or to acquire the bonds of said com-

any.
12. The incorporators named in this act shall constitute the board of
directors, and shall continue in office until their successors shall be
elected and qualify. They shall select one of their number as president
of the board, and may appoint such officers as they may deem proper;
they shall fill any vacancy that may occur in the board or in the office of
the president, and may receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said
company. When two hundred thousand dollars of the capital stock shall
have been subscribed, the said company shall be considered duly and
legally organized, and shall have the power of condemnation as provided
by the general laws of the State of Virginia, and all the general powers
‘onferred on corporations and chartered companies by the laws of this
State, and shall be subject to all of the provisions thereof, except in s0
far as the same are modified by or are inconsistent with this act.

13. The construction of the said railway shall be commenced within
‘wo years from the passage of this act, and be completed within seven
years thereafter.

14. It shall be lawful for the circuit court of the city of Richmond,
xr of any other city or county through which the said road may run,
upon the petition of the president and board of directors, at any time,
to order an increase of the capital stock upon the payment of the proper
charter fee tax for such increase of stock into the State treasury or to
the auditor of public accounts.

15. The principal and general office of said company shall be at
Salem, Virginia.

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