CHAP. 155.—An ACT to incorporate the Roanoke and New Castle
railway and mining company.

Approved February 4, 1892.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That E. H. Stewart, J. S. Simmons, H. S. Trout, Clarence
Coleman, P. L. Terry, R. H. Woodrum, J. T. Engleby, M.
C. Thomas, Frank D. Hill, J.C. McDonald, F. J. Chapman,
R. V. Jones, Z. T. Cole, P. W. Scott, J. W. Marshall, W. W.
Brand, John W. Caldwell, W. M. Page, C. N. Hawkins, M.
B. Rowe, C. W. Howard, H. W. Anderson, W. 8. Gooch, all
of the state of Virginia, and Frank Woodman and KE. A.
Humphreys, of the state of West Virginia, or such of
them as may accept the provisions of this charter, and
such other persons and corporations as may become asso-
ciated with them in the manner hereinafter provided,
shal] be, and they are hereby, constituted and made a body
corporate, by the name of the Roanoke and New Castle
railway and mining company; and as such authorized
and empowered to locate, construct, equip and operate a
railroad of standard gauge of single or double track, com-
mencing in or at the city of Roanoke, subject to the laws
governing common carriers of the state of Virginia, and
connecting with the Norfolk and Western railroad at the
city of Roanoke, and with such other railroads as may be
constructed to that city, and thence running by the most
practicable and eligible route deemed advisable by the
board of directors of said company, to such place or
point in Craig county, Virginia, as will make connec-
tion with or intersect the railroad now in operation in
said county, or with such other railroads as may be here-
after constructed up Craig creek from said railroad now
in operation, said point to be determined by the board of
directors; and may extend its main line westwardly to
the Tennessee or Kentucky line by the most eligible and
practicable route, to be determined by said board of direc-
tors; and may also construct a branch line from a point
on its main Jine down New river tothe West Virginia line.
And it shall be lawful for the said company to construct
and operate lateral or branch roads from its main line not
to exceed twenty miles in length, which shall have all the
rights, powers and franchises, and be subjected to the same
restrictions, as the main line.

2. Said company shall have perpetual succession and a
common seal, which it may renew or alter at will; may
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be
contracted with, and adopt by-laws, rules and regulations
for the government of its officers and employees not in-
consistent with the laws of the United States or the state
of Virginia.

3. The said company is authorized and empowered to
purchase, hold, lease, or control in any manner, sell, grant,
and convey mineral and timber lands and personal estate,
but shall not hold any more real estate than is proper for
its purposes, and not to exceed fifty thousand acres at any
one time; nor shall it hold real estate, except in the coun-
ties of Roanoke and Craig and the counties adjacent there-
to. The said company may mine and dig for iron ores
and other minerals and metals, and may manufacture
iron, steel, fire-brick, glass, or any other article composed
wholly or partly of iron or wood, or of any metal or min-
eral or vegetable substance, and may market and sell the
same; and for this purpose it may erect furnaces, rolling-
mills, forges, saw-mills and any machinery or manufactories
upon its lands necessary and proper for its business, and
may operate, lease, or sell the same.

4. The said company is authorized and empowered to
acquire by condemnation, according to the laws of Vir-
ginia, the lands required for right of way for its railroad
and the lateral branches thereof, and for all sidings, turn-
outs, depots, and all other necessary purposes of said rail-
road; to cross at surface grade, over, or under any railroad
now built or constructed, or that may hereafter be built
or constructed, subject to the provisions of the general
laws of this state; and may consolidate or connect with
any line of railroad now constructed or may hereafter be
constructed in the counties of Roanoke and Craig or the
counties adjacent thereto. Or it may acquire by lease or
purchase any railroad now constructed or that may here-
after be constructed in this state: provided the same is
not a competing line; or may lease or sell to any such
railroad not a competing line, or other corporation its rail-
road and all its rights, privileges, and franchises belong-
ing to the same, or all or any of its properties, chartered
rights, or franchises, upon such terms as may be agreed
upon by a majority of its stockholders.

5. The capital stock of the said company shall not be
less than fifty thousand dollars, and may, from time. to
time, be increased to a sum not exceeding five million dol-
lars,and may be divided into preferred and common stock,
to be sold in shares, the par value of which shall be one
hundred dollars, under such regulation and upon such
terms as the board of directors shall, from time to time,
prescribe. And the said directors may receive subscrip-
tions’to its capital stock from individuals, from other com-
panies, associations, or corporations, and to receive in
payment of any such subscriptions money, lands, loans,
work, labor, material, property, or other means available
for its purposes, at such valuation and at such prices as
may be agreed upon between the directors of said compa-
ny and the subscribers.

6. It shall be lawful for said company to borrow money,
and issue and sell its bonds from time to time, for such
sums and upon such terms as its board of directors may
prescribe, and may secure the payment of said bonds by
mortgages or deeds of trust upon its railroad or any part
thereof, or upon its lands, or upon all or any of its prop-
erty, real, personal, or mixed, its contracts and privileges,
its charter, rights and franchises, including its franchises
to be a corporation.

7. It shall be lawful for said company to subscribe to
and hold the capital stock of any other mining or manu-
facturing company or other corporation; may lease or
operate the property or railroad, or both, of said mining
or manufacturing company, or other corporation, and
guarantee the bonds or stocks of such mining, manufac-
turing company, or other corporation.

8. No stockholder shall be liable for the indebtedness
of the said company in a sum greater than may be due by
him on stock subscribed for or purchased by him.

9. The principal office of the company shall be at Roa-
noke city, Virginia, but meetings of the board of directors
or stockholders may be held elsewhere in the state of Vir-
ginia, as the board of directors, or stockholders in general
meeting may respectively determine.

10. For the purpose of organizing said company, the
persons named herein as corporators, or any one or more
of them, may receive subscriptions to the capital stock of
said company, at any time or place without advertising;
and when the sum of fifty thousand dollars shall have
been subscribed, they or any five of them shall convene
the stockholders and organize the company, and certify
such organization upon the books of the company, and
such certificate, or a copy thereof, duly authenticated by
a notary public, shall be received as evidence of legal
organization of the company.

11. Said company, or its successors, shall begin the
work of constructing this railroad two years from the
first day of April, eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and
complete the same within five years thereafter; other-
wise the powers, privileges and franchises granted to said
company shall be ipso facto void.

12. The said company, and its successors, whether by
consolidation, lease, purchase, or sale, with, of or by any
other corporation or company in this or any-other state,
is hereby declared to be a domestic corporation, and sub-
ject to the jurisdiction and laws of this commonwealth;
and in the event that such corporation or company fail or
refuses to comply with the provisions of this charter, all
the powers, privileges and franchises hereby granted shall
be ipso facto void: provided, however, that any forfeiture
of the powers, privileges and franchises granted under
this statute shall only be effective as against the corpora-
tion hereby created, and shall not affect the title, estate, or
interest of the bondholders and other creditors of said cor-
poration, or impair the rights of such bondholders and
other creditors to have the property and franchises of such
corporation sold and the proceeds thereof applied to the
payment of its bonds and other indebtedness, in accord-
ance with their priority as secured by mortgage, lien, or
otherwise.

13. The city of Roanoke and the counties of Roanoke
and Craig, or any other counties through which its line
of railroad may be located, may subscribe to the capital
stock of said company in the manner and under the re-
strictions prescribed by the laws of the state of Virginia.
14. The said company is granted all the rights and
privileges and franchises granted to railroads and com-
mon carriers, and subject to all restrictions required by
the general laws of the state of Virginia.

15. All assessments, taxes, dues and demands due to
the commonwealth of Virginia shall be paid in lawful
money of the United States, and not in coupons.

16. This act shall be in force from its passage, and the
general assembly reserves the right to alter or repeal this
act at any time hereafter.