Chap. 24.—An ACT to amend the charter of the town of Cape Charles and t
legalize certain acts of the town council.

Approved December 20, 1895.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That th
town council of the town of Cape Charles, in order to open, grade
pave, macadamize, or otherwise improve any street, sidewalk, o
alley, be authorized to make assessment of such sum as may neces
sary to complete such work, to be charged on the property abutting
on such street, sidewalk, or alley, and to be apportioned according to
the number of feet abutting thereon; and to effectually carry out
the powers thus conferred, the council may make and enforce all
needful and proper by-laws and ordinances.

2. Be it further enacted, that licenses to sell various spirituous or
malt liquors shall be granted only by the town council, and only
when the applicant shall have been first licensed by the county court
of Northampton county, or by the circuit court on appeal from the
county court, as provided by law; but the fact that any applicant has
been licensed by the said county court, or by the said circuit court on
appeal from the county court, shall not make it incumbent on the
council to grant him a license. No license to sell liquor shall be
granted by the council unless and until it be made to appear to the
satisfaction of the said council that the applicant is a fit and proper
person, of good and moral character, and also that the situation, in
which the applicant is to conduct the business of selling spirituous
or malt liquor, is a fit and proper place for such purpose, and until
the applicant shall have furnished a bond, payable to said town,
with security, to be approved by the council, conditioned upon the
observance by said applicant, his partners, agents, or employees, of
all the ordinances, resolutions, or by-laws of said town in force when
gaid license is granted or which may be passed thereafter.

3. Be it further enacted, that the council of said town shall ap-
point annually an assessor, who shall be a qualified voter of said
town, and who shall assess the value of all the real and personal
property in the corporate limits of said town, which said assess-
ment shall not be higher than the assessment made on said property
for state taxation, and the same shall form the basis of taxation for
said town ; and said council shall have power and authority to levy
and collect annually a tax on the real and personal property in the
corporate limits of said town, and on such other subjects within the
said town as are or may be taxed by the revenue laws of the state;
and on dogs belonging to persons residing in said town; and for the
privilege of carrying on any regular business, trade, or profession, by
persons residing within the corporate limits thereof: provided that
the tax on real estate and personal property shall not exceed, in any
one year, one dollar on every one hundred dollars value thereof; and
that the poll tax shall not exceed fifty cents on every male person
over twenty-one years of age, in any one year; and for the purpose
of carrying on any regular business, trade, occupation, or profession
within said town by persons residing without the corporate limits
shall not exceed, in any one year, the tax imposed by said council
on persons residing within the corporate limits for carrying on like
business, trade, occupation, or profession. Should any person carry
on any such business, trade, occupation, or profession without ob-
taining a license therefor, and paying the tax required by ordi-
nance, he shall be prosecuted as for violation of the ordinances of
said town, as herein provided for.

4. Be it further enacted, that the said council shall also have
power and authority to make all necessary provisions to prevent ac-
cidents by fire, and to supply the town with water for all necessary
purposes, and to purchase engines, hose, fire-hooks, ladders and
other fixtures useful for preventing accidents by fire, and to organ-
ize fire companies. The council of said town shall also have power
and authority to negotiate any loan or loans for the purpose of pur-
chasing necessary real estate, and for the erection of public build-
ings, and for general improvement of said town, so that the amount
borrowed shall not exceed ten thousand dollars, and shall also have
the authority to issue registered or coupon bonds for said loan or
loans, payable at not more than twenty years after said date of
bonds, bearing interest at a rate not to exceed six per centum per
annum. They shall also have power and authority to establish mar-
kets and regulate the same; to grade and pave or in any other way
improve the streets, sidewalks and alleys of said town; to make and
maintain sewers; to change and direct the water courses in said
town; to prevent and punish by reasonable fines the practice of
firing guns and pistols, or in any manner setting fire to powder; of
running horses, and of all else detrimental to the peace and quiet of
said town; tolicense and regulate shows and public exhibitions, and
to tax the same to such an extent as they may deem reasonable and
expedient; to prescribe rules for the orderly and regular building of
houses and chimneys; to regulate blacksmith shops and all other
shops considered likely to occasion accidents by fire, and the erec-
tion of stoves and stove-pipes; to regulate the erection of privies,
stables and cow-sbeds, and prescribe their location; to regulate
butchers’ stalls and slaughter-houses; to abate and remove nuisances
within the said town at the expense of those who may occasion them ;
to prohibit horses, mules, hogs, dogs, cows and other animals from
running at large within the limits of said town; to prevent the ex-
hibition of stud-horses or jackasses or other objectionable exhibi-
tions; and generally to pass all by-laws and ordinances, not con-
trary to the constitution and’ laws of the state or of the United
States, which the said council may think necessary and proper for
carrying into effect the foregoing powers, or that may hereafter be
vested in them; and for the regulating of the police, preserving the
peace and good order and government of said town, and to amend
and repeal the same at their pleasure; and to enforce the observance
of such by-laws and ordinances, under penalties not exceeding one
hundred dollars for one offence, to be recovered, with costs, in the
name of said corporation, before the mayor or any councilman of
said town, and applied in aid of the taxes imposed upon said town.
5. This act shall be in force from its passage.