Chap. 175.—An ACT to incorporate Big Sandy and Cumberland railroad
company.

In effect January 25, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That C. W.
Adams, Isaac T. Mann, James L. Hamill, M. J. Caples, and W. M.
Ritter, or any three of them who may accept the provisions of this act,
their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, made a body
politic and corporate, under the name and style of Big Sandy and Cum-
berland railroad company, under which name it may sue and be sued,
plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, shall have
property succession, and may have a corporate seal and alter and renew
the same at pleasure, and may make by-laws and regulations for the
government of itself and its employees not inconsistent with the laws of
this commonwealth, and in such by-laws may prescribe how such by-laws
may be amended or repealed.

2. It shall be lawful for said Big Sandy and Cumberland railroad
company to construct, operate, and maintain a line of railway of standard
or narrow gauge, with single or double track, from some point on the
line dividing the states of Virginia and Kentucky, as may be deemed
most expedient, in the county of Dickenson or Buchanan, thence by the
most desirable and practicable route through either of said counties and
the additional counties of Tazewell and Nussell, or any one or more of
said counties, to the Clinch river, in Buchanan or Russell county, or to
a connection with the Norfolk and western railway, or any other railroad
at any point in any of the said counties found hereafter to be desirable.
The construction of the said road may begin at either or both ends of
said line or any intermediate points thereof.

3. Said company or its successors may, from time to time, issue and
sell common or preferred stock, or both, in shares of one hundred dollars
($100) each, to an amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars
($100,000), and upon such terms and at such prices as its board of direc-
tors may direct; and it may take in payment for subscription to said stock
money, supplies or property of any kind, which in the discretion of the
board of directors may scem proper; and it, or its successors, may issue
and sell its bonds upon like terms at any time before or after the issu-
ance and disposal of its common or preferred stock, in whole or in part,
and may secure the same by mortgages or deeds of trust upon its fran-
chises or any or all of its other property, whether real, personal or mixed.

4. It shall be lawful for any railroad company, incorporated company,
county, state, or town to aid in the construction of said Big Sandy and
Cumberland railroad, and for that purpose may subscribe to its capital
stock or that of its successor, and may acquire bonds of said company
under such restrictions as are prescribed by law.

5. Said company may have the right to acquire and own by purchase
or lease, any lands, quarries, mines, coal beds, standing timber or trees,
lumber yards, tanneries, pulp and paper mills, furnaces, rolling-mills,
machine works and wharves, and erect and operate, lease or sell the same
in any of the counties through which its road may pass, or in any adjoin-
ing county, provided that not more than fifty thousand acres of land
so acquired shall be held or owned in any one of said counties; and it
shall have the power to construct, maintain, and equip and operate such
branch roads as the board of directors mav from time to time determine
upon, running from points on its main line in any direction, provided
any such branch shall not exceed twenty miles in length. :

6. No stockholder in said company shall ever be held liable for the
indebtedness of said company in a sum greater than may be due on stock
subscribed for or purchased by him at the agreed price therefor.
7. The directors of said company shall be stockholders, and they shall
2lect one of their members president. They shall be elected and their
number fixed by the stockholders in their annual meetings, and they
shall hold their office until their successors are elected, and they may fill
any vacancy in their board. Each stockholder shall be allowed to cast
one vote, either in person or by proxy, for each share of stock owned by
1im.

8. For the purpose of organizing said company the persons first named
n this act shall constitute its board of directors, and shall serve until
ts first meeting of stockholders, and three or more thereof may act and
may receive subscriptions to the capital stock at any time or place, and
when the sum of one thousand dollars is subscribed they shall convene
the stockholders and organize said company. At said meeting one of
their number shall preside, and they shall certify said organization
on the books of the company, and their certificate, or a copy thereof,
duly authenticated by a notary public, shall be received as evidence of the
legal organization of said company. Said company, or its successors, shall
begin the work of constructing its road within two years from the pas-
sage of this act.

9. Said company, or its successors, shall never, by reason of any merger
or consolidation with any company in this or any other state, cease to
be a domestic corporation, but shall forever be and remain subject to
the jurisdiction of the courts of this commonwealth.

10. All taxes which may he assessed against said company shall be
paid in lawful money of the United States.

11. The work of construction under this charter shall be commenced
within two years and completed within five years from the date of the
passage of this act.

12. The principal office of this company shall be and remain in the
state of Virginia.

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