Chap. 459.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to charter th
Blue Ridge Railway Company, approved February 16, 1901.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That 8. R. Smith
Henry P. Scott, Nicholas P. Bond, E. P. Hill, W. B. Smoot, George W
Settle, T. C. Smith, John B. Miller, George W. Cone, J. C. Smoot, anc
S. R. Miller, or such of them as may accept the provisions of this act
their associates, successors, or assigns, be, and they are hereby, incor
porated and made a body politic and corporate under the name and sty]
of the Blue Ridge Railway Company, and by that name shall be known in
law, and as such is authorized and empowered to locate, construct, ani
operate by steam, electricity, or other motive power, a line of railroac
commencing at some point on the Southern railroad within the corporat
limits of the town of Culpeper, or at some point within the counties o
Orange, Fauquier, Culpeper, Warren, Page, Albemarle, King Georg
Prince William, Stafford, and Westmoreland counties, Virginia, an
thence running to such points in Rappahannock, Greene, Orange, Albe
marle, Madison, Spotsylvania, Page, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Warre
counties, and by such routes as may be deemed suitable by the board o
directors of the said company.

2. That the said company shall have perpetual succession, and hav
power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be de
fended in all courts, whether law or equity, and make known and have .
common seal, and alter and renew the same at pleasure, and shall hav
and possess and enjoy all the rights and privileges of a corporation o
body politic and necessary for the purposes of this act. The capital stoc
of said company shall not be less than ten thousand dollars nor mor
than fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of twenty-five dollar
each, under such regulations as the board of directors of said company
shall, from time to time, prescribe; the directors may receive cash, labor,
real, and personal property suited to the business of the company in pay-
ment of subscriptions to its capital stock at such valuation as may be
agreed with the subscribers.

8. It shall be lawful for the circuit court of the city of Richmond,
upon petition of president and board of directors, at any time, to order
a change in the name of the company, and to increase the capital stock
upon the payment of the proper charter fee, but any such change of name
shall be without prejudice to the rights of any creditor, or the exercise of
any of the powers and privileges granted by this act.

4. It shall be lawful for said company to acquire, by donation or pur-
chase, lands for depots, stations, shops, and other purposes necessary for
the successful operations of its road in any of the counties through which
it ig authorized to construct its line of road or branches thereof.

5. It shall be lawful for said company to combine with any other rail-
way or railways for the purpose of consolidating or transfer of its rights
or property; and shall have the right to acquire other railways, and to
this end shall have the right to own stock of other railways.

6. It shall be lawful for said company, by and with the consent of the
county court, on the recommendation of the board of supervisors of the
counties and the councils of the cities or towns, to enter upon, grade,
occupy, and.use any public road or highways or streets in said counties
aforesaid, so, however, as not to prevent the free and convenient travel
over such roads by any citizens; and this corporation is further authorized
to acquire such rights of way in fee of lands as they may find needful or
advantageous to the construction and operation of such railway line or
lines, by purchase, gift, grant, or condemnation, in the manner provided
by law for acquisition of private property for public use, and the said
railway company shall also have power to purchase, acquire, sell, lease,
dispose of, and convey real or leasehold property, and lay out thereon
town sites and erect hotels or other buildings, and to use and manage the
same in any lawful way whatever, and to open quarries, and generally to
make such lawful use of its said landed or other property as it shall deem
advisable.

7. It shall be lawful for said company to borrow money or issue and
sell its bonds, from time to time, for such sums and on such terms as
its board of directors may deem expedient and proper, and to secure the
payment of such bonds by mortgages or deeds of trust upon all-or any
portion of its property, railroads, and franchises.

8. Subscriptions to the stock of said company may be made by the
county of Rappahannock, or any of the counties interested in the con-
struction of this road or its branches; and that the subscriptions in each
county shall not exceed one hundred thousand dollars; and the proper
authorities of said county shall cause a vote to be taken therein on the
question of such county subscriptions, upon the petition of twenty-five
freeholders to the county court at least thirty days before the date fixed
for said election praying an order for said election for the amount fixed
in said petition, and thereupon the court shall order an election in ac-
cordance with the provisions of this act. Said election may be ordered
and conducted as is provided in this act.

9. That the judges of election of the several districts shall carefully
ascertain the number of votes cast in their respective districts for aid to
the Blue Ridge Railway Company and the number cast against aid to
the Blue Ridge Railway Company, and the several judges shall make re-
turns thereof, attested by their hands and seals, to the clerks of the
county courts of their respective counties, and the said clerks shall send
a copy thereof, under seal of his office, to the supervisors of their respective
counties.

10. That if from the returns made by the judges of election as certi-
fied by the said clerks it shall appear a majority of the registered voters
of the county were in favor of the said subscription, the board of super-
visors of said county or counties shall make such subscriptions, notwith-
standing that the amount so subscribed shall require the imposition of an
annual tax in excess of twenty cents on the one hundred dollars to pay
the interest on the amount so subscribed, and to provide a sinking fund
for the extinguishment of the principal, and to this end may issue bonds
bearing the rate of interest not exceeding six per centum per annum of
such denominations as said authorities may determine.

11. That the said company shall be required to commence the con-
struction of said railroad within four years from the commencing of this
act, and to complete the construction of its main line within five years
thereafter, or otherwise the powers and privileges and franchises hereby
granted shall be annulled and become void.

12. That S. R. Smith, of Culpeper; George W. Settle, of Rappahan-
nock county; T. C. Smith, of the town of Culpeper, Virginia; W. B.
Smoot, of Alexandria, Virginia; Henry P. Scott, of Wilmington, Dela-
ware; J. Curtis Smoot, Nicholas P. Bond, and E. P. Hill, of Baltimore,
Maryland; John B. Miller, of Rappahannock county, and George W.
Cone and S. R. Miller, of Warren county, or such of them as will accept
the provisions of this act, shall have power and authority of a president
and board of directors for the purpose of organizing and all other pur-
poses. They shall constitute the board of directors for the first year, and
shall continue in office until their successors shall be elected and qualified.
Each stockholder in the company shall, at all meetings or elections, be
entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in his name.

13. The board of directors shall be stockholders of the said company ;
they shall elect from their members a president and vice-president, treas-
urer, and such other officers as, in their judgment, shall be necessary, and
may fill any vacancies that may occur in said board, unless by removal,
in which case the same shall be filled by stockholders in general meeting.

14. Whenever ten per centum of the capital stock shall have been sub-
scribed, and the board of directors shall have elected a president, and the
proper tax on this charter has been paid, the said company shall be con-
sidered legally organized, and may proceed to the transaction of business.

15. No stockholder in said company shall be held liable or made re-
sponsible for its debts and liabilities in a larger or further sum than the
amount of any unpaid balance due the said company for stock subscribed
by the said stockholders.

16. The board of directors may establish offices and agencies at such
places as they may deem proper, but the principal office of the company
shall be located at some place in the State of Virginia.

17. All taxes due the Commonwealth by the said company shall be paid
in lawful money of the United States, and not in coupons.

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