CHAP. 28.—An ACT to incorporate the Port Norfolk electric rail-
way company.

Approved December 22, 1891.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia,
That Reid Carpenter, of Mansfield, Ohio; William H.
Stewart, of Portsmouth, Virginia; S. M. Carper, of Cin-
cinnati, Ohio; M. W. Mason, of Norfolk, Virginia, and
H. B. Mason, of Norfolk county, Virginia, or such of them
as may accept the provisions of this act, and such other
persons as they may associate with them, their successors
or assigns, be, and are hereby, incorporated and declared a
body corporate and politic by the name of the Port Nor-
folk electric railway company, and by that name shall be
known in law, and shall have perpetual succession, and
have power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded,
defend or be defended in a]l courts, whether in law or in
equity, and make and have a common seal, and alter and
renew the same at pleasure, and shall enjoy and exercise
all the rights, powers and privileges pertaining to cor-
porate bodies and to natural persons necessary for the
purposes of this act.

2. The said company shall have power and authority to
construct, equip, maintain, and operate a railroad from
Port Norfolk, in the county of Norfolk, to and into the.
tity of Portsmouth, and to any other point within the
county of Norfolk, by such route or routes as the said
company may adopt; with the consent of the board of
supervisors of the county of Norfolk, the said company
may use the public roads and streets of Portsmouth by
and with the consent of its council.

3. It shall be lawful for said company to transport
passengers, freight, and baggage, and the mails of the
United States, and to collect fare and tolls for the same;
and to use horses, steam, or electric power to propel the
cars on the said road.

4. The said company shall have power to acquire, and
hold such real estate and personal property as may be
necessary for the proper and successful carrying out of
the purposes and business of said company, and shall
have the right to enter, by its agents, upon, and cause to
be condemned, such land as may be needed for said pur-
poses, as prescribed by law for the condemnation of lands
for works of internal improvement; and for its purposes
may use the road of any turnpike company, with the
consent of said company, or cross any navigable stream
with suitable draw-bridge.

5. It shall be lawful for said company to issue bonds
for the construction and equipment of its road, and to
secure payment of the principal and interest of the same
by a mortgage or deed of trust on its property, franchises,
and so forth.

6. Subscriptions to the capital stock of said company
may be made in money, materials, labor, or lands, and
said company may also acquire lands by gift or purchase,
and shall have power to have and sell the same: provided
that the amount of lands shall not exceed one thousand
acres. And the commission and the directors may receive
labor, supplies, material, lands, rights of way, water rights
and other property, real or personal, in payment, for snh-
scriptions to the capital stock at such: -valnations Rg shel
be agreed upon between the directors or. commission an
the subscribers. The capital stock of e2id company shail.
not be less than ten thousand dollars,: aor more. than five
hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of
the par value of one hundred dollars, and may be in-
creased from time to time as the stockholders may deter-
mine; each share of stock shall be entitled to one vote.

7. No stockholder of said company shall be held or
made responsible for its debts and liabilities in a larger
or further sum than the amount of any unpaid balance
due tothe said company for stock subscribed for by said
stockholders.

8. The said William H. Stewart and M. W. Mason are
hereby authorized and created a commission to receive
subscriptions for stock, and for this purpose they may
open books of subscription in such manner as they may
deem proper, and keep them open until aforesaid incor-
porators or other persons have subscribed the minimum
amount of the capital stock, or more, and thereafter,
within their discretion, they may call a meeting of the
stockholders who may proceed to organize the company.
General or special meetings of the stockholders may be
held on notice of the time and place of such meeting given
to each stockholder in person, or by writing mailed to his
address, at his usual post-office, ten days prior to the date
of such meeting, or by publication of such notice in some
newspaper of general circulation in the state for two weeks
prior to the date of such meeting. The board of directors
may appoint, or authorize to be appointed, such subor-
dinate agents and officers of the company as they may
deem necessary and proper for the proper discharge of
the business of the company.

9. The board of directors shall be stockholders in said
company; they shall appoint one of their number presi-
dent, and may fill any vacancy that may occur in said
board, unless by removal, in which case the same shall be
filled by the stockholders in general meeting. Whenever
the minimum amount of capital stock herein named shall
have been subscribed, and the board of directors shall
have elected a president, said company shall be considered
legally organized, and may proceed to the transaction of
business.

10. The said company shall have power to establish and
maintain, in the county of Norfolk and city of Portsmouth,
one or more electric plants, for the purpose of furnishing
electric light, power, and traction to the public, and to
private individuals and corporations or other railroads.

11. The work on said railway shall be commenced
within two years and completed within ten years of the
‘passage. of .thig act,

: 12. The said ¢aurpany shall have power to cross, unite,
consolidate, Or -cornett with any line of street railway
edhistrueted pr-to be: cepstructed in this state; and it may
acquire Dy: lédse or purchase, or by lease or purchase may
be acquired “by any railway constructed, or to be con-
structed in this state.

13. Said corporations shall pay all debts, dues, and
demands of the state of Virginia in lawful money of the
United States, and not in coupons.

14, This act shall be in force from its passage.