Chap. 297.—An ACT to incorporate James River Railway and Lumber Company.
Approved March 25, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That W. T.
Fergusson, John C. Keeneth, Frederick Tieleke, William C. Deininger,
Charles W. Visel, and their associates, successors, and assigns, be, and
they are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate by the name and
style of James River Railway and Lumber Company.

2. The said company shall have perpetual succession, and shall have
power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be de-
fended in all the courts, whether in law or in equity, and make and have
a common seal, which it may alter and renew at pleasure; and shall have,
possess, and enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges conferred, and
be subject to all the general restrictions imposed by the laws of the State
upon such bodies, politic and corporate.

3. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than fifteen
thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars, and shall be
divided into shares of fifty dollars each; and the board of directors may
dispose of the same at such prices and upon such terms and under such
conditions as they may determine; and the directors may receive cash,
labor, material. bonds, stocks, real or personal property in payment of
subscriptions to the capital stock at such valuation as may be agreed upon
between the directors and the subscribers, and may make such subscrip-
tions pavable in such manner or amounts and at such times as may be
agreed upon. The incorporators above named, or a majority of them,
may receive subscriptions to the capital stock in such manner as they may
deem best, and no advertisement of the time and place at which the books
will be open for subscriptions shall be necessary. The said company
shall have power to issue preferred stock upon such terms as may be de-
termined upon bv the majority of the stockholders. No stockholder of
the said company shall be held liable or made responsible for the debts
or liabilities of said company in a sum beyond any balance due from
said stockholder to the said company on shares subscribed for by said
stockholder.

4. The board of directors of the said company shall consist of two
members beside the president, vice-president, and secretary (who shall
also be directors), which number may be increased to any number not
exceeding twelve at any annual meeting of the said company, the direc-
tors to hold office for the term of one year and until their successors
are elected and accept the office; and the said board of directors shall
from their number elect a president, and may elect such other officers
and employees as they may deem necessary for the proper conduct of the
affairs of the company; and they shall fill any vacancy that may occur in
the board or in the office of president or other officer.

5. The said James River Railway and Lumber Company is hereby au-
thorized, empowered, and permitted to locate, construct, equip, maintain,
and operate a railway of standard or narrow gauge, with one or more
tracks, to be operated bv steam, electric, or any other motive power, from
anv point on Jumes river, in this State, by such route as may have
already or mav be hereafter adopted by the directors of the said com-
pany through the counties of Isle of Wight, Surry, and Southampton ;
and the said company shall have right to construct bridges across any
rivers or streams, whether the same be navigable or not, provided the
navigable rivers so crossed shall be provided with a proper draw for all
vessels which may use such streams. The said company shall have the
right to cross the tracks of any other railroad company at grade, or over
or under the same, subject to the provisions of the general laws of the
State of Virginia. The said company may engage in manufacturing
lumber, cutting wood, and otherwise operating same; may own and
operate saw mills, planing mills, and other machinery necessary for the
manufacturing of lumber, wood, et cetera. The said company may own
ten thousand acres of land at any one time besides its right of way.

6. The said company is authorized and empowered to locate, con-
struct, equip, and operate any lateral branches or tramways at any point
it may determine in the State, not exceeding twenty miles in length
each, which a majority of its directors may determine to construct and
operate, and by such route as may be determined upon by its board of
directors; and the said company may connect or unite its said road with
that of any other company or companies, or consolidate or merge its
stock, property, franchises with those of any other company or com-
panies operating in this State, and upon such terms as may be agrevil
upon between the companies so uniting or connecting, merging, or con-
solidating; and may enter into traffic or other arrangement of contract
with any other railroad company, whether organized under the law of this
State or not, and so to these ends power is hereby given to this com-
pany and any other company to make and carry out such contract by sale,
lease, purchase, acquisition of stock in such company, or otherwise as
will facilitate and consummate such connection or consolidation or such
traffic contract, upon such terms as may be agreed upon by the board of
directors of this company and other such company; and the said company
may own, charter, or otherwise employ vessels propelled by steam or
sail, or by other means, in order to facilitate and meet the demands of
trade and commerce, and to construct all necessary work, convenience,
and facilities as will aid it in the furtherance of its purposes, such as
wharves, piers, warehouses, and other structures, with the right to charge
and collect tolls for the use of same.

%. It shall be lawful for the said company to borrow money and to
issue and sell its bonds, either with or without coupons or registered,
from time to time, for such amounts or sums, and on such terms as its
stockholders may deem expedient and proper for its purposes, and may
secure the payment of said bonds by one or more mortgages or deeds of
trusf, conveying in trust all or any portion of its property, real, personal,
and mixed, its contracts and privileges, and its chartered rights and fran-
chises, including its franchise to be a corporation, and also any property
it may acquire after the date of the said mortgage, to such trustee or
trustees as the board of directors may deem proper; and it may, as the
business of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey, and encumber
all or any portion of its property of any character, rights, privileges, or
franchises, including its franchise to be a corporation.

8. It shall be lawful for the said company to subscribe to and hold
shares of the capital stock in any manufacturing company, railroad com-
pany or other corporation organized under the laws of this or any other
State; and the said company may also hold or guarantee the bonds of any
other company; and any manufacturing company, railroad company, or
corporation organized under the laws of this or any other State may sub-
scribe to and hold shares of stock in said company, or may purchase,
hold, or guarantee the bonds of the said company.

9. The said company may acquire by condemnation, according to the
laws of the State of Virginia, the lands required for the rights of way
and for the necessary stations and depots, yards, wharves, and terminal
facilities for its operating; and may use the public roads of any county
through which its line may run, except the counties of Southampton and
Surry, by and with the consent of the board of supervisors of the respec-
tive counties, and upon making compensation to the abutting land
owners, and may in like manner use the streets of any city or town
through which its line may run, by and with the consent of the said city
and town.

10. Each stockholder in said company shall, at meetings or elections,
be entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in his name;
and the president and the board of directors of the said company mav
enact such laws, rules, and regulations for the management of the affairs
of the said company as they may deem expedient.

11. Whenever the said corporation shall exercise any of the privileges
conferred by this act, it shall be liable to same taxes as may be imposed
by law upon like corporations or persons exercising like privileges; and
all taxes due the Commonwealth by the said company shall be paid in law-
ful money of the United States, and not in coupons.

12. In the event of a consolidation with any other company, this com-
pany shall remain a Virginia corporation so far as the right of suing and
being sued is concerned. Any meeting of the board of directors of this
company may be held at such time and place as the president or direc-
tors may direct. |

13. The chief and general office of the company shall be at Fergus-
son’s wharf, Isle of Wight county, Virginia, or at such other point in
Virginia as the board of directors may, from time to time, determine,
but whenever the said chief office shall be so changed the said company
shall notify the secretary of the Commonwealth of such change.

14. The construction of the said road shall begin within two years
from the first day of July, nineteen hundred and two, and be completed
within five years from the date of the passage of this act, but the pur-
chase of any railroad or tramway now operating shall be deemed a ful-
fillment of this section.

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