CHAP. 197.—An ACT to incorporate the Salem Improvement com-
pany of Salem, Virginia.

Approved February 11, 1890.

Whereas on the twenty-fourth dav of September, eigh-
teen hundred and eighty-nine, a charter of incorporation
was granted the Salem improvement company by the
honorable Henry E. Blair, which charter was duly re-
corded in the office of the clerk of the circuit court of
Roanoke county, and also by the secretary of the com-
monwealth in his office at Richmond, Virginia; and
whereas the said company was duly organized and has
entered upon the business provided by the said charter;
and whereas to the better enable the said company to con-
duct the business which it has undertaken, it is necessary
for the same to have powers which cannot be conferred by
circuit court judges under the laws of Virginia; there-
fore,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That C. M. Clark, Charles G. Eddy, D. B. Strouse, S. F.
Simmons, A. C. Denniston, E. C. Pechin, James A. Bon-
sack, J. W. F. Allemong, T. J. Shickel, John M. Evans, F.
H. Chalmers, and R. H. Logan, and such other persons as
may be hereafter associated with them, be, and they are
hereby, created and constituted a body politic and cor-
porate under the name and style of the Salem improve-
ment company, and by this name shall have perpetual
succession.

2. That the said company shall have power to purchase,
hold, and sell lands not exceeding seventy-five thou-
sand acres, or so much thereof as may be necessary for
the business of the company; to improve and work the
same; to make thereon streets and roads; to erect thereon
buildings, factories; and improvements of any and all
kinds; to operate manufactories; to utilize and dispose
of their products, and to do all that may directly or in-
directly pertain to the increase of the business and popu-
lation of the town of Salem; to purchase and se}! min-
eral lands; to raise, transport, sell and use minerals of
all kinds; to build on its own land all necessary ways of
transportation and operate the same; to construct, main-
tain, and operate water-works; to erect and operate one
or more furnaces; to receiye and execute trusts and evi-
dences of debt; to subscribe for, purchase, hold, and sell
stocks, bonds, and other securities of other incorporated
companies; to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded,
to have a common seal and to prescribe and alter the
same.

3. The capital stock of the company shall not be less
than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, nor more
than one million dollars, divided into shares of ten dol-
lars each, which may be paid in money, lands, and labor,
as the board of directors may provide.

4. The principal office of the company shall be at
Salem, Virginia..

5. The board of directors shall consist of not less than
seven nor more than eleven stockholders, and shall have
power to make and establish rules, by-laws, and regula-
tions for the management of the company and the control
of all its operations, so that the same be in conformity to
the laws of this state and of the United States, and the
company may vest in the board of directors such power as
it may deem advisable for the interests of the company.

6. The liabilities of the stockholders shall be limited to
the assets of the company and the undivided profits.

7. The annual meeting of the stockholders shall be held
on the first Tuesday of January, subject to such change as
the board of directors may provide.

8. There shall be a president, vice-president, a secretary
and treasurer, and such other officers and agents of the
company as the stockholders or board of directors may
from time to time provide.

9. The following officers and directors for the first vear,
or until their successors are elected or appointed, shall
manage the affairs of the company: J. W. F. Allemong,
president; S. F. Simmons, vice-president; E.8. Strayer,
secretary and treasurer; and board of directors—C. M.
Clark, Charles G. Eddy, D. B. Strouse, S. F. Simmons, A.
C. Denniston, E. C. Pechin, James Bonsack, J. W. F. Alle-
mong, and T. J. Shickel.

10. All taxes due or to become due by this company to
the state of Virginia to be payable in money and not in
coupons.

11. The passage of this act shall in no way affect any-
thing which has been done by the Salem improvement
company under its said charter.

12. This act shall be in fofce from its passage.

ng ws ~ ea = ——

CHAP. 198 —An ACT to amend and re-enact chapter 148 of the
acts of the General Assembly of Virginia, 1885-'86, touching
the road law for Warren county.

Approved February 11, 1X90.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That an act approved February eighteenth, eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-six, acts of assembly of cighteen hundred
and eighty-five and eighteen hundred and eighty-six, be
amended and re-enacted so as to read as follows:

2. That hereafter the supervisors of the several magis-
terial districts of Warren county shall be ex-officio road
commissioners of their respective districts, with duties
and powers and subject to the provisions hereinafter con-
tained.

3. That said commissioners shall have exclusive charge
and control of the public roads and bridges within their
respective districts, except as hereinafter provided. .
4. That all taxes levied. and collected for road pur-
poses, and for building and repairing bridges, shall be
expended on the roads and bridges in the district from
which the same may be collected.

5. That the commissioners of the roads for the respec-
tive districts of the county of Warren shall be known as |
the commissioner of roads for magisterial district, and by
such name shall have the power to contract and be con-
tracted with, sue and be sued; but no judgment against
such commissioner shall bind him personally. It shall
be paid by the treasurer out of the district road fund.

6. That the term of office of said commissioner shall
be the same as that of supervisor. He shall qualify at the
same time and in the same manner as the supervisors
qualify, and shall give bond with security in a penalty of
not less than five hundred nor more than two thousand
dollars for the faithful performance of his duties as com-
missioner of roads. This qualification and bond shall be |
independent of and in addition to his qualification and
bond given as supervisor: provided, that the supervisors
now in office in said county shall qualify and give bond
as road commissioners at the April term, eighteen hun-
dred and eighty-six, of the county court of Warren county.

7. That it shall be the duty of said commissioner to see
that all roads in his district are of lawful width and clear ,
of obstructions, and in all cases of obstruction to notify '
the party offending by written notice, and if the obstruc-
tion caused by said party be not removed after ten days’
notice, such commissioner shall cause the obstruction to
be removed, and may recover the expense, with cost, from
the offender upon a warrant before a justice of the peace,
and the said justice may also in his discretion impose a
fine upon the offender not exceeding ten dollars, which
fine shall go into the road fund.

8. That it shall be the duty of the commissioner of
roads, not less than thirty days preceding the day of the}
first letting, as directed by a succeeding section of this '
act, to lay out and divide the public roads of his district
into sections of not more than three miles in length, and
numbered from one up. Each section definitely defined,
with a brief description of the character of the same,
shal] be entered in a bound book, which book shall be
kept by the commissioner open to the inspection of any
citizen of the county. He shall also make an estimate of
the probable amount necessary to put and keep each sec-
tion in good repair. This estimate shall not be entered
into his section-book, but kept for the guidance of him-
self and the board of supervisors.

9. That the several commissioners shall provide for,
opening and keeping in good repair all public roads in «
their respective districts, and to this end shall, between
the fifteenth and twentieth day of June, eighteen hundred
and eighty-six, let to contract each section of road within
his district, at public letting, to the lowest bidder, for the
term of one year, reserving the right to the board of
supervisors, as hereinafter provided, to reject any and all
bids. Between the fifteenth and twentieth of June, eigh-
teen hundred and eighty-seven, and every three years
thereafter, there shall be another letting of said roads in
the same manner as above, except that the letting shall be
for three years. At every regular letting of roads the
commissioner may employ a clerk to assist him for a
period not exceeding five days, at a cost not exceeding two
dollars per day, the same to be paid out of the road fund,
on the order of the commissioner.

10. That of the time and place of letting each commis-
sioner shall give ten days’ notice by printed hand-bills,
posted in at least three public places in each magisterial
district.

11. That the specifications of work to be done upon
each section, and the condition in which the same is to
be kept, shall be such as in the judgment of the commis-
sioner the section will -require, and shall be written out
and made known at the time of letting.

12. That among the specifications it shall be provided
that when practicable the bed of the road shall be raised in
the middle and slope gradually each way to the sides,
where ditches sufficient to carry off the water shall be
kept open, and that the road-bed shall not be less than
twelve feet in width.

13. The commissioner shall report to the board of super-
visors, at a meeting to be held by them between the twen-
tieth and twenty-fifth of June succeeding any public let-
ting under this act, and as soon as may be after any pri-
vate letting, the sections let, the number of each section,
to whom let, and at what price; and if no reason appear
to the contrary, said board shall confirm said letting, and
said commissioner shall enter into a written contract with
the person to whom the road is let, which contract shall
be in accordance with the terms of letting, and in the
penalty of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than
double the contract price, and with security to be approved
by the board of supervisors.

14. The board of supervisors shall provide for each road
district a road contract book containing blank bonds or
contracts in proper form, with printed specifications of a
general nature, and such written special specifications and
stipulations as may be agreed upon at the time of letting
of said roads. One of these bonds or contracts shall be
executed by the road commissioner and the contractor,
with his security, before the board of supervisors at the
time of the approval by the said-board of the letting of
any section of road to such contractor. Said bond or con-
tract shall be kept in said book, shall be preserved in the
county clerk’s office, except at such times as may be
needed by the commissioner in any proceeding against a
contractor.

15. Between the twentieth and twenty-fifth of May and.
October of each year the commissioner shall pass over
and inspect every section of road in his district, and if
any road or section is net in good order, or has not been
worked according to contract, said commissioner shall at
once notify the contractor of the fact, and if he does not
within ten days’ from the notice put the section in such
repair as his contract calls for, then the commissioner
shall have said road worked according to the terms of the
contract, and the cost of such work, including two dollars
per day for said commissioner while attending to same,
together with the costs of recovery and an additional sum
of ten dollars per mile or portion thereof, shall be recover-
able of the delinquent contractor on his bond by the com-
missioner before a justice of the peace of the district, with-
out limit as to the amount, with the right of appeal to the
county court if the amount recovered exceed twenty dol-
lars. The amount recovered shall, except costs, be paid
to the treasurer of the county, to be by him credited to the
road fund of the district.

16. But if upon such examination the commissioner
shall find that such contractor has executed his contract
and performed his duty, he shall, upon each viewing in
May and October, give him a warrant on the treasurer of
the county for one-half of the whole amount called for in
his contract, and the treasurer shall pay said warrant out
of the fund in his hands hereafter provided for.

17. That at any time three tax-payers from any district
may petition their road commissioner to view one or more
sections of road in their district, upon the ground that the
same is not worked according to contract; if said com-
missioner fail or refuse to view the section complained of,
or if his view be adverse to petitioners, upon motion the
county court shall appoint three disinterested viewers,
who shall, after being duly sworn, view the sections and
make a report at the next term of court. If their report
be against the road, the court shall order the commissioner
to proceed as directed by section fifteen of this act. But
if the report of the viewers be favorable to the road, the
petitioners shall pay cost of the commissioner and view-
ers, which shall not be more than one dollar per day.

18. If any section remain unlet by reason of there be-
ing no bid, or the amount offered be deemed excessive, or
for any other reason, the commissioner may let the same
privately and report to the board of supervisors, as pro-
vided in section twelve of this act. And in case there be
no letting, the commissioner shall take charge of said road
or section and make or keep it in repair, and to this end
may employ hands, teams, and so forth, paying for same
the customary price of the neighborhood. He shall keep
an accurate and itemized account of such work, expense,
and so forth, and make oath to the same, and lay it before
the board of supervisors, which board shall inspect the
same; and if it is found correct, the board shall give said
commissioner of roads a warrant on the treasurer of the
county for the amount thereof, to be paid out of the road
fund of the district. |

19. That in case of a road dividing two magisterial dis-
tricts, the commissioner of roads of the districts so di-
vided shall apportion said road between said districts in
such a way as will equitably divide the expense. If they
cannot agree, the county court shall apportion the same,
and shall direct what part of said road shall be opened
and kept in repair by each magisterial district.

20. That the commissioners of roads for each district
shall lay before the board of supervisors, at the meeting of
said board when the county levy is made, his book of road
sections hereinbefore provided for, and shall also report to
the board how much, in his judgment, will be required to
work and keep in repair the roads in his district for the
ensuing year: provided, that when the costs of altering or
changing the road, or opening a new one, be, in the judg-
ment of the supervisors, too burdensome to be paid in one
year, they may, in their discretion, cause the same to be
levied and paid in not exceeding three equal instalments.

21. That the said board of supervisors shall then. cause
to be levied a road tax for each district not exceeding
twenty-five cents on the one hundred dollars worth of real,
personal, and mixed property within the district, taking
the state assessment as a basis.

22. That the treasurer of the county shall collect the
road tax herein directed to be levied as he collects state
and county taxes, and shall keep a separate account of
taxcs collected from each district, giving each road dis-
trict credit for the amount collected from the same, and
shall pay the same out as hereinbefore provided.

23. That every petition for a new road, or to lay out,
open, alter, or change a public road, must first be pre-
sented to the commissioner of roads in the district in
which the road is, who shall endorse thereon his approval
or disapproval of the same, and his reasons therefor, which
petition, with the commissioner’s endorsement, shall be
laid before the county court at its next term, in open
court, and the court shall appoint. three discreet freehold-
ers to view the ground of any new road or proposed change.
The road commissioner, the county surveyor, or other
competent surveyor, shall accompany the viewers, and, if
necessary, survey and map the road. The whole number
of viewers must view, but a majority may decide for or
against, and they may view and make report of and esti-
mate for any modification of the route.

24. That notice of the time and place of the meeting of
the viewers shall be given by the viewers in some public
manner in the vicinity of the proposed road at least five
days hefore the time of meeting. The viewers, before they
proceed to discharge their duties, shall be severally sworn
by the commissioner of roads, or some other person author-
ized to administer oaths, to perform the duties impartially
and to the best of their judgment. If they decide there
is necessity for the road or change, they shall lay out the
same, having respect for the shortest distance and the best
ground, and so as to do the least injury to private property,
and also, as far as practicable, to be agreeable to the peti-
tioners. They shall assess the damage done to the land
through which the road passes, taking into consideration
the advantage to be derived from the road passing through
the Jand, and shall report in writing to the next term of
the court the probable amount of damage, cost of construc-
tion, and such facts as will enable the court to determine
the propriety of opening said road. Although it may
appear that no more than a few, or even one person, will
be benefited by the opening of any road, yet the court
may, in its discretion, cause said road to be ‘opened, requir-
ing such beneficiary and the district in which the road
may be, respectively, to pay such part of the damages,
expense of construction, cost, and repair, from time to
time, as to the court may seem right.

25. That upon the return of the report of the viewers,
the owner, his guardian or committee, if within the
county—if not, the occupier of the land upon which the
said road will be, if established—shall be summoned to
show cause against said report; and any proprietor or
tenant of lands on which said road will be, if established,
or the commissioner of roads may enter himself a party
defendant to said petition, after which the same proceed-
ings shall be had as under the general road law of the
state. The court may, at its discretion, grant a second or
third view.

26. The court shall examine the amount of damages
assessed and the probable expense of opening the road,
and if satisfied that the public interest will be subserved
by opening the road or the proposed change, shall approve
the report and order the damages to be paid by the road
district through which the road may pass in such propor-
tion as the damages may have been assessed in the said

38
districts, respectively, and shall cause the clerk to deliver
a copy of the order establishing, changing, or altering the
road to the commissioners of roads in whose district or
districts the road may be. The commissioner shall em-
brace the amount of damages, costs, and expense of open-
ing or changing the road and keeping it in repair in his
estimates of necessary road tax to be laid before the
board of supervisors.

27. That if the court decides against the application to
alter, change, or open a road, it may require the costs to
be paid by the petitioner, or by the district or districts, as
to the court shall seem just.

28. The viewers shall be paid two dollars per diem for
their services, and the surveyor two dollars and fifty cents
per diem.

29. That the county court shall at the time when any
new road is established, direct what width the road shall
be made, and shall have power to regulate the width of
roads: provided, that the land condemned for any new
road shall not be less in width than thirty feet.

30. It shall be the duty of the attorney for the com-
monwealth to represent the several road commissioners in
all matters affecting the public roads in the courts of
record in the county.

31. The county treasurer shal] annually, at the July
meeting of the board of supervisors, settle and adjust
before said court his accounts with the road fund of the
several districts. The said board shall charge him with
the full amount of the road tax levied in the district, and
all sums collected from delinquent contractors, and shall
credit him by his commissions, delinquents, and all pay-
ments made by him for which he has the proper vouchers.
He shall receive the same per centum for collecting and
disbursing road taxes as for collecting state revenue.

32. The commissioner shall receive as compensation
two dollars per diem for the time actually employed in
the discharge of his duties: provided, that in no case
shall he receive over seventy-five dollars in any one year.
He shall, at the December and July terms, file before the
county court of the county a sworn statement of the time
of his actual employment upon the road matters of his
district, giving the number of days, date, and how em-
ployed; and if the account is approved, the court shal]
certify the fact to the hoard of supervisors, who shall
issue a warrant on the county treasurer for the amount to
the parties thereto entitled, payable out of the district
road fund. °

33. By and with the consent of the board of supervisors
of Warren county the commissioner of roads for any dis-
trict in said county may dispense in any year with the
spring or fall workings of roads in his district: provided.
the money thus saved to said district road fund shall be
spent within said district upon bridges or other necessary
improvements.

34. It shall not be lawful for any person to drag logs
over the public roads of Warren county unless the bed of
said road be sufficiently frozen to prevent injury to the
same; and a violation of this provision shall subject the
offender to a penalty of five dollars for each offense, to be
recovered before a magistrate.

35. The property in any incorporated town in the county
which keeps its own streets in order shall be exempt from
the road tax herein provided for.

36. That no resident of the county of Warren shall be
required to labor upon the public roads except as provided
by law as a punishment for some offense.

37. The general road law of the state, except so far as
the same is in conflict with this act, shall be force in War-
ren county. |

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