Chap. 615.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Crewe, in the county of Notto-
way.

Approved March 3, 1894.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the
town of Crewe, in the county of Nottoway, be made a town cor-
porate by the name of Crewe, and by that name may sue and be
sued, and shall have and exercise all powers conferred on towns
by and be subject to the provisions of the forty-fourth chapter of
the code of Virginia, so far as they are consistent with this act, and
shall be subject to all laws governing towns of less than five thousand
inhabitants, now in force or which may be hereafter enacted.

2. Commencing at a point on the southern line of Virginia avenue
at the intersection of the western lineof Graves street; thence inau
easterly direction along the southern line of Virginia avenue to the
eastern line of Tyler street; thence along the western line of Tyler
street to the southern line of Custis street; thence along this line to
the western line of Bolling street; thence along said line to the
line of the Norfolk and Western railroad company’s property;
thence along the line of said property to a point where it inter-
sects with the southern continuation of the eastern line of Third
street in what is known as East Crewe; thence along said line to the
northern line of Tennessee avenue; thence along said line to the
eastern line of Second street; thence along the eastern line of Second
street to the northern line of Georgia avenue; thence in a westerly
direction along and in continuation of said northern line of Georgia
avenue to where it intersects with the continuation of the western
line of Graves street, and thence along said line to the place of be-
ginning.

3. The municipal authorities of said town shall consist of a mayor
and nine councilmen. The councilmen shall be elected on the fourth
Thursday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-six, and on the fourth
Thursday in May of every second year thereafter, by the qualified
voters of the town.

4. There shall be elected annually by the council of said town 2
mayor, a town sergeant, recorder, assessor, treasurer and street com-
missioner, with duties and pawera-to be prescribed by said council.
5. The election of the councilmen and the registration of electors
of said town shall be held and conducted in the manner provided by
the law of Virginia.

6. The mayor and councilmen shall each, before entering upon the
duties of their offices, take and subscribe before the judge of the
county court of Nottoway the oaths prescribed for all other officers
by the laws of Virginia, which oaths shall be filed in the clerk’s office
of the county court of said county; but if any or either of them
shall fail to do so on or before the first day of July succeeding their
election, his or their office shall be deemed vacant. Any vacancy in
the office of mayor, or of any of the councilmen, from whatever cause,
shall be filled by the council, and the officer so elected shall serve
for the unexpired term of his predecessor, and within thirty days of
his election take, subscribe and file the oaths of office as prescribed
by this charter.

7. The mayor, when present, shall preside over all meetings of the
council, but shall have no vote except in case of a tie, when he shall
cast the deciding vote.

8. The mayor and each one of the councilmen of said town, while
in office, is declared to be, and is hereby constituted, a conservator
of the peace within said town and within two miles of the corporate
limits thereof, and shall have all the powers and authority in civil
and criminal cases of justices of the peace, and the same powers to
administer oaths and take acknowledgments of deeds and other
papers, and to do any and every act which by law a justice of the
peace is authorized to do, whether by laws now in force or hereafter
to be enacted.

9. The council shall cause to be made up annually and entered
upon its records an accurate estimate of all sums of money which
are or may become lawfully chargeable on said town and which
ought to be paid within one year, and at its first meeting in January
of every year, except the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four,
during which it may perform any of its functions at any meeting,
shall direct a levy sufficient to meet and discharge said demands:
provided that for the first five years the council may, in its discre-
tion, add such an amount to said estimate as will in that time put
the town upon a cash basis; but said council shall not be authorized
to levy a tax of more than seventy-five cents on one hundred dollars
in value of property, which shall] include the amount now paid for
county purposes, and about which provision will hereafter be made
in this charter. ~

10. The levy so made shall be made on all male persons over
twenty-one years of age, upon dogs and all personal and real estate
within said town, except such persons, personal and real estate aa
may be exempt from taxation under the laws of this state, and also
upon all other subjects within said town as may at the time be as-
sessed with or liable for state taxes.

11. In all cases in which the laws of: the state require a license to
be taken out by any person engaged in the pursuit of any business,
trade, occupation or calling, or for the conduct of any licensed game,
theatrical or other performance for profit, shooting gallery, bowling
alley or any amusement, or for any other purposes, the said council
shall have the power to require a license to be taken out in all cases
for the benefit of said town before such person shall be permitted to
pursue such business, trade, occupation or calling, or carry on any
game, exhibition, shooting-gallery or other thing within the cor-
porate limits of said town or within two miles from said limit. Said
council may grant or refuse license to owners or keepers of wagons,
drays, carts, hacks and other wheeled conveyances, or carriages kept
or employed in said town for hire or as carriers for the public, and
may require the owners of such wagons, drays, carts, and so forth,
using them in the town, to take out a license therefor, and may
require taxes to be paid thereon, and subject the same to such regu-
lations as they may deem proper, not inconsistent with the laws of
this state. ‘

12. The revenue from this and other sources shall be collected,
paid over and accounted for at such times and in such manner as
the council shall direct.

18. The council shall require the treasurer of the said corporation to
make out a quarterly report of the receipts and expenditures of said
town for the preceding quarter, which report shall state on what ac-
count the expenditures were made and from what source or sources
the receipts were derived, which report shall either be posted in some
public place or published in a newspaper of the town, as the council
may direct.

14. The council of said town may negotiate any loan or loans, not
exceeding three per centum of the assessed value of all the real and
personal property within the corporate limits, for the purpose of im-
proving the streets, lighting the same, buying the necessary real
estate, erecting public buildings, supplying the town with water and
for other purposes, and shall have the authority to issue registered
or coupon bonds for said loan, payable at not more than twenty years
after date of said bonds, bearing interest at a rate not greater than
six per centum per annum, payable semi-annually: provided that
two-thirds of the council of said town shall authorize said loan or
loans, and that the same shall be sanctioned by a vote of a major-
ity of all the freeholders of said town voting at said election, to he
ascertained by a vote taken and conducted in the manner author-
ized for other elections, after having given notice thereof for four
weeks in some newspaper published in said town, or be posted for
the same time at ten or more public places in said town: provided,
further, that the council of the town shall annually set apart five per
centum of any bonded debt contracted by the council until the debt
is paid. The same shall be deposited in some state or national bank,
to be approved by the council, upon certificates bearing interest ;
said fund to be designated a sinking fund and used exclusively in
payment of said debt on or before maturity. Any bonds issued
under the provisions of this section shall be regularly numbered,
signed by the mayor, clerk and treasurer and recorded in a book
kept for the purpose, and shall not be sold for less than par.

15. For the purpose of paving and improving the streets of said
town, the said council may each year levy a tax equal to that levied by
Nottoway county that year for county purposes, which shall be ap-
plied to the improvement of said streets for a period of ten years,
and which shall exempt the town from any county tax during
thattime. Thislevy shall be in addition to the regular levy for
school purposes and government of the town, and may continue for
ten years, but in no case shall the whole levy exceed seventy-five
cents on the one hundred dollars.

16. The council shall appoint a health officer, and, in addition to
the powers conferred by law, shall have the power to invest said
health officer with authority to quarantine the town against contagious
and dangerous diseases, see to and compe! the proper cleansing of all
yards, lotsa, alleys and streets, and take such other steps as may
be necessary to cleanse and protect the health of the place, and
to this end may impose such fines and penalties as to said coun-
cil may seem just and reasonable.

17. The boundaries of said town shall be deemed toconstitute a
lawful fence in all respects.

18. The council shall have the power to make such ordinances,
by-laws, orders and regulations as they may deem necessary to pre-
vent hogs, dogs, cows, horses, mules and other animals from run-
ning at large in the limits of the town, and may subject the owners
thereof, to such fines, regulations and taxes as the said council may
deem proper, and may sell said animals at public auction, if said
fines are not paid after five days’ notice, and out of the proceeds pay
the expense of keeping and selling said animals and said fines and
costs, and the balance, if any, shall be paid to the owner of said
animal or animals.

19. No license shall be granted to any person, club or corporation
to sell wine, ardent spirits, malt liquors, or any mixture thereof,
cider containing alcohol, alcoholic bitters, or fruits preserved in ar-
dent spirits, either by wholesale or retail, or to be drunk at the place
where sold, or in any other way, within the corporate limits of said
town, or within two miles thereof, unless and until the applicant
shall produce to the court or officers authorized to grant such license
the written consent of the council of said town; and upon the pro-
duction of a copy of the record of said council to said court, show-
ing such consent and specifying the house in which it is to be sold,
that the applicant is a corporation chartered under the laws of Vir-
ginia, or, if the applicant is not a corporation, that the person so
applying is sober, discreet and of good moral character, and that the
place is suitable and convenient; that the applicant has paid into the
treasury of said town the license tax charged by said town, which
in no case shall be less than five hundred dollars, and to the treasu-
rer of Nottoway county the tax required by law to be paid to the
state for the exercise of said privilege, said court may grant such
applicant a license to sell all or any of the things mentioned in this
section, by wholesale or retail, or to be drunk at the place where
sold. Any person who shall, without first procuring a license, as
required by this section, to sell wine, ardent spirits, malt liquors, o1
any mixture thereof, cider containing alcohol, alcoholic bitters, o1
fruits preserved in ardent spirits, either by wholesale, retail, or t¢
be drunk on the premises, or in any other way, within the corporate
limits of said town or within two miles thereof, shall be punished
by a fine not less than thirty dollars and not more than one hun-
dred dollars for each offence. The mayor of the said town, the
council, or any member thereof, shall have jurisdiction to try any
person charged with a violation of any of the provisions of this sec-
tion and impose the punishment hereby inflicted. All fines imposed
under this section shall be for the benefit of the town, and shall be
paid into the treasury thereof.

20. The right of the Crewe land and improvement company to the
use of its mains and pipes in the streets of the town of Crewe, or
which may hereafter be laid in the streets now existing, or which
may hereafter be opened, is now and hereby recognized, and shall
continue so long as the said company desires.

21. The officers of said town, until the first election (having been
chosen at a primary election by the people), shall be as follows:
Samuel M. Williams, mayor, and the following councilmen: N. W.
Norsworthy, B. F. Robinett, W. T. Warriner, E. F. Lockett, L. O.
Badger, C. B. Armes, W. J. Sowers, C. E. Tench and C. N. Payne, and
the said council is authorized and empowered to elect the other offi-
cers, require such bonds as may be deemed proper and fix the sala-
ries. The officers so elected by the council shall hold their offices
until the election and qualification of their successors: provided the
mayor and members of the council shall not be entitled to any com-
pensation out of the treasury of the town, but shall be entitled to
the fees allowed by the laws of the state for services performed as
justices of the peace. The salary of the town sergeant shall not ex-
ceed forty dollars a month, the policemen forty dollars a month.
The treasurer, for collecting and disbursing, and the assessor, for
assessing taxes, shall receive the same fees as are allowed by state
laws to county treasurers and commissioners of the revenue for simi-
lar services. The recorder shall not receive over fifty dollars per
annum, and the street commissioner shall be paid reasonable sums
for the time he 1s actually employed in the discharge of his duties.

22. The town shall not be liable to road tax by the county or state
so long as it keeps its streets in order.

23. The council shall have the power to determine the officers who
shall be required to give bond, the penalty of said bonds, and shall
require the same to be executed before said council, with such secu-
rity and conditions as the said council may approve, and shall deter-
mine in whose custody the said bonds shall be kept.

24, All fines and forfeitures provided for by this charter may be
recovered as provided by law in cases of fines and forfeitures im-
posed by the laws of the state of Virginia, and shall be paid into the
treasury of the corporation and used as a part of its revenue.

25. This act can be amended or altered at the pleasure of the
legislature.

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