Chap. 235.—An ACT to incorporate the Norfolk Land Improvement
and Construction Company.

Approved March 3, 1884.

1. Be it enacted by the gencral assembly of Virginia, That
James BE. Barry, M. Glennan, E. Mahony, Mathew O'Keefe,
James I. Barry, Jr.. W. S. Wilkinson, john Newton, L. R.
Watts, and John H. Bryant, their associates and successors,
or a majority of them, are hereby constituted and created a
body politic and corporate, by the name of the Norfolk Land
Improvement and Construction Company, for the purpose of
uniting the waters of Tanner’s, Newton’s, Smith’s, and Broad
creeks with the waters of Elizabeth river and its br anches, in
the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne, and for the gene-

ral development and improvement of the lands adjacent to
said creeks and river in said counties.

2. The capital stock of said company shall not exceed the
sum of one million dollars, to be divided into shares of one
hundred dollars each, and whenever the sum of twenty-five
thousand dollars shall be subscribed, the said company may
oryanize for the purpose aforesaid, and the subscribed capital
may be increased from time to time by the board of directors
to such an amount as they may deem necessary for the proper
conduct of its business, and the improvement contemplated,
not exceeding the maximum amount prescribed in this act.

3. The said company is hereby authorized to acquire, by
subscription or otherwise, lands, mines, property, labor, and
materials, or the stock and bonds of other companies; and it
shall also be lawful for any company incorporated under the
laws of this state, to subscribe to the capital stock of this com-

any.
r 4. It shall be lawful for this company, in order to facilitate
the completion of the improvement herein provided for, to
contract with any other company duly incorporated, upon
such terms as may he mutually avreed upon by the board of
directors of this and the contracting companies for the endorse-
ment, sale, or exchange of the stock or bonds of this com-
pany.

5. The said company shall have the power and authority
to construct, operate, and equip all necessary canals for the
purpose of uniting the waters of the creeks hereinbefore
named, any or all of them, with each other, and with the
Elizabeth river and its branches, and to construct, operate,
and equip along the line of said canals, and to and from such
other points along the line of its improvements as may be
deemed advantageous, all necessary railroad tracks, sidings,
and branches; and to facilitate its business, this company
shall bave the right to connect with, or to cross at, under, or
above the grade, any railroad incorporated, or which may
hereafter be incorporated under the laws of this state, and ope-
rated in the vicinity of its improvements: provided that no
discrimination shall be made in the charges for passengers and
freight by or against this or such connecting companies.

6. For the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this
act, the said company shall have the power and authority to
condemn, in the manner prescribed by law, the lands and right
of way necessary for the construction of its canal and rail-
roads: provided the quantity of land condemned for canal
purposes shall not exceed two hundred fect in width along
the entire length of said canal, and that for railroad purposes,
shall not exceed one hundred feet in width along the entire
length of said railroad.

7. The said company may purchase, or otherwise acquire
and hold, all real estate necessary for the completion of its
improvements in the counties of Norfolk and Princess Anne,
and in the city of Norfolk: provided the quantity owned
and held, at any one time in said counties, shall not exceed
five thousand acres, and in said city five acres, exclusive of
that purchased or condemned for the right of way for their
railroad or canals.

8. The said company shall have power to construct and
erect, along the line of its improvements, wharves, piers,
warehouses, and other buildings, and to establish and carry
on lumber, wood and coal yards: and it may use and employ
all such machinery, steamboats, dredges, tugs, barges, light-
ers, boats, and other appliances, as their business shall re-
quire; and it may demand and receive tolls and fares upon
the canals and railroads constructed and operated by it.

9. It shall be lawful for this company to contract with any
railroad, canal, telegraph, or other company incorporated for
purposes of internal improvement, for the construction, erec-
tion or equipment of their railroad, canal, telegraph lines, or
other works, and to take the stock or bonds of said company
in payment for the same.

10. It shall be lawful for said company to issue bonds for
such sums as the directors may prescribe, for not less than
one hundred dollars each, bearing legal interest from the date
thereof, and to secure the same by one or more mortgages
upon its real estate, property and franchises, or any part
thereof, said bonds and the interest thereon to be payable at
such times and place as the directors may prescribe.

11. The said company shall have full power to sell, trans-
fer, lease or encumber the whole or any portion of its real
estate or personal property, upon such terms as the directors
may prescribe.

12. That any city, town or county along the line of the
improvements of said company, is hereby authorized to sub-
scribe to- the capital stock of the said company to an amount
not exceeding fifty thousand dollars, in the manner and sub-
ject to the provisions of the general laws of the state relating
to such action upon the part of cities, towns and counties.

13. The said company shall have ‘the power to make all
such rules and by-laws as they may deem necessary for their
government, according to law ; may fix the number of direc-
tors, and provide for the election of a president and other
necessary officers; may fix the time and place for holding
their annual and other meetings, and prescribe the duties and
terms of office of the several officers.

14. This company shall be subject to all laws governing
companies of a like character, so tar as the same are not in-
consistent with the provisions of this act.

15. That the said company, by the acceptance of this char-
ter, hereby agrees to pay all taxes, dues and demands due
the state that may be hercinafter assessed against it in lawful
money of the United States, and not in coupons.

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