Chap. 94.—An ACT to incorporate the Virginia Trans-Atlantic Steam-
ship Line, and to authorize it to purchase lands and build railways
to connect therewith,

Approved April 2x, S87,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That
Barton Myers, J. W. Hf. Grullitord, W. FP. B. Slaughter, Wil-
liam Lander, James W. Gerow, and Robert: FL Baldwin, or
any five of them, their associates and successors, be and they
are hereby constituted and made a body politic and corporate
under the name and style of the Virginia Trans-Atlantic
Steamship Line, and by that name may sue and be sued, and
shall have all the rights and powers, and be subject to all
the restrictions imposed upon joint stock companies and cor-
porations generally by the statutes of this State, except as
hereinafter provided.

2. The capital stock of said company shall not be less than
one hundred thousand dollars nor more than five million dol-
lars, divided into shares of the par value gf one hundred dol-
lars each; and the directors may receive stock or bonds of
other transportation Companies in payment of subscriptions
to the stock of this company at such valuation as may be
agreed upon.

3. The said company shali have the right to acquire and
hold the stock or bonds of other transportation companies
whenever in its judyment expedient; and its stock or bonds
may also be acquired or held by other transportation com-
panies.

4, The said company may acquire and hold real estate in
the cities of Nortolk or Portsmouth, or in the counties of
Nortolk, Elizabeth City, or Warwick, or either of them, not
to exceed the amount of one thousand acres at any one time,
and may erect thereon, or on any part thereof, wharves, piers,
docks, basins, dry docks, warehouses, elevators, Cotton presses,
sheds, or any other buildings or improvements suitable or
convenient for its business, or for the accommodation of
steamships, vessels, or other boats or craft. or for the con-
venient loading, unloading, shipping, receiving, and storing
of all kinds of merchandise and personal property for sate-
keeping, and may conduct the business usually transacted by
warehousemen, Whartingers, and lightermen, and may charge
and collect Compensation for the Compressing, storage, dock-
age, Wharfage, and lighterage, and forall labor incident thereto,
including the expense of weighing, insuring, keeping, and
delivering such merchandise or personal property at such
rates and on such terms as may be agreed upon between it
and its customers, and for any advances made by it on mer-
chandise or property stored or deposited with it for shipment
or storage or other purpose, and for all charges and expenses
the said company shall have a preferred lien on said mer-
chandise or property, which shall be paid before the said
company shall be required to deliver the same, and it may
also issue negotiable receipts for any property held by it: on
storage, subject to the laws regulating the issuance of such
receipts,

5. For convenience of access to such improvements, the
said company shall also have authority to construct, equip.
and operate one or more railways with all necessary sidjnygs
and branches from any of said structures in said counties, to
such point or points of Convenient connection with such rail-
roads as it may determine, and for that purpose may acquire
title in the mode provided by law to a continuous line not
exceeding one hundred feet in width of land, and such addi.
tional Jands as may be necessary or convenient for the use of
said roads or tracks, or for the buildings or works of said com-

any.

6. The said company shall have the right to lease, seil,
mortgage, or otherwise dispose of any real or personal prop.
erty ow ned or acquired by it, to as fullan extent as if it were
a natural person, and to issue bonds, securing them by mort-
gage or trust decd on its property or franchise.

7. The said company shall have the right to build. pur.
chase, or charter ‘steamers or other vessels, OF acquire the
right to use the same in any way that would be lawtul were
it a natural person, and to run the same for freight or pas-
senger traflic between any Virginia ports and England or the
continent, and may run steamers in connection with any
stenmers or other vessels owned or operated by any other
person, Whether a natural person, partnership, or Corporation,
and the said corporation may also order any of its Vessels to
any port of the Atlantic coast or Gulf of Mexico, when they

“an be loaded there on better terms than from Virginia ports.

8. The corperators herein mentioned, shall have the power
and authority of a president and board of directors for the
purpose of organization of said company and for all other pur-
poses, until a president and board of directors shall be selected
ata stockholders meeting, and such meeting shall be held
after such notice as the said Incorporators May deem proper.
The said incorporators may eleet one of their number chair:
man, Who shall have all the powers and authority of presi-
dent of said company, and in all matters a majority of said
incorporators shall control.

9 The principal office of said company sball be in the city
of Norfolk, Virginia. The annual meeting of said company
shall be beld on the first Thursday of May of each year,
unless the stockholders shall prescribe a different time.

19. As soon as the minimum amount of the capital of said
company shall have been subscribed, and twenty per centum
thereof paid up in cash, the said company shall be authorized
to commence business.

11. This act shall be in force from its passage, and. this
charter is granted upon the express condition that the said
corporation shall pay all taxes, dues, and demands due the
State at any time hereafter in money, and will not tender or
pay coupons therefor.