Chap. 672.—An ACT to amend and re-enact an act entitled an act to incorpo-
rate the Richmond and Tidewater railroad company, approved March 3,
1898.

Approved March 2, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That an act
entitled an act to incorporate the Richmond and Tidewater railroad
company, approved March third, eighteen hundred and ninety-eight, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

S1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Henry
N. Price, Charles Picot, L. C. Catlett, M. J. Enright, of Virginia;
Edwv L. Tavlor, Owen E. Houghton, of New York; and George E.
Detwiler, of Virginia, or any five of them who may accept the provisions
of this act, their associates and successors, are hereby constituted a
body politic and corporate, by the name of the Richmond and Tidewater
railroad company, and as such may have all the privileges, franchises,
and immunities applicable to such corporation.

§ 2. The said company shall have the power and authority to locate,
construct, maintain, equip. and operate a standard gauge railroad either
of single or double track, commencing at a point on the Chesapeake
bay, the York, Rappahannock, or North rivers, running thence to the
city of Richmond by what it may deem the most practicable route,
passing through the counties of Gloucester, Mathews, Middlesex, New
IXent, King William, King and Queen, Essex, Hanover, and Henrico,
or any of them. The said railroad may pass through the city of Rich-
mond by and with the consent of the city council of said city. The
said company shall have the power to construct branch or lateral lines
not exceeding twenty-five miles in length.

§ 3. The motive power of said company may be by steam or electricity,
or both, as it may elect.

§ 4. The said company shall have the power to construct, purchase,
lease, own, and operate in connection therewith steam vessels for the
carriage of freight and passengers, or both, on the Chesapeake bay or
any of the navigable streams emptying thereinto, subject to all the
laws of the state of Virginia or the United States governing the naviga-
tion of steam vessels.

§ 5. The said company shall have the right to construct and main-
tain all necessary bridges across all rivers and streams over which the
said railroad will pass: provided, the said bridges shall be constructed
with proper draws so as not to obstruct navigation.

§ 6. The capital stock of said company shall be not less than twenty-
five thousand dollars ($25,000) nor more than five hundred thousand
($500,000) dollars, to be divided into shares of the par value of one
hundred dollars ($100) each. Each stockholder shall be entitled to one
vote for each share of stock held by him. Any subscription heretofore
or hereafter made to the capital stock of the said road by any of the
counties through which it passes, shall be upon such conditions as the
board of supervisors of the respective counties may prescribe.

§ 7. The said company shall have the power and authority to change
its name, whenever such change may be deemed advisable by the board
of directors.

§8. The said company shall have the power and authority to acquire
by purchase, lease, or condemnation, according to law, and to hold and
improve all lands which it may deem necessary for rights of way for
its road, and for stations, depots, power-house, and terminal facilities,
and also for any other purposes which it may deem necessary and proper
and advantageous to its welfare: provided, that in no case it shall own
more than one thousand (1,000) acres of land, in addition to the right
of way of its road bed.

8 9. It shall be lawful for said company to borrow money, issue bonds,
and other evidences cf debt, and to secure the same by one or more
mortgages or deeds of trust on its properties, rights, and franchises, or
any part thereof.

§ 10. The said company shall have its principal office in Virginia,
and may have such offices as its business may require without the state.

§ 11. The said company may subscribe for or purchase the stock and
bonds of any company which 1s not a parallel or competing line, or any
property that may be necessary for its business, upon such terms as may
be mutually agreed upon. It shall also have the power and right to
transfer its property and franchise by sale, lease, or consolidation, to
any company which is not a parallel or competing line.

812. The said company shall commence the construction of its
road within two years, and complete the same within five vears from
the passage of this act: provided, that the limitation herein applied to
the commencement and completion of the said road shall not apply to
its branch or lateral lines.

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

§ 14. This act shall be in force from its passage.