Chap. 504.—An ACT to incorporate the Clinch river and Big Sandy railroad com-
pany.

Approved February 24, 1898.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That H. S. K.
Morison, Henry $. Kane, A. §. Buford, E. M. Fulton, Patrick Hagan,
E. M. Carter, John B. Moon and H. C. Stuart, and their associates and
successors be, and they are hereby constituted a body politic and cor-
porate under the name and style of the Clinch river and Big Sandy rail-
road company, and by that name shall have all the nights and powers
and be subject to all the provisions of the general laws of the state in
reference to corporations and chartered companies, and especially in
reference to companies Incorporated for works of internal improvement,
so far as the same may be applicable to and not inconsistent with the
provisions of this act.

2. The said Clinch river and Big Sandy railroad company may ac-
quire, construct, operate and maintain a railroad from a point on the
state line of Tennessce by the most practicable route, through or across
the state of Virginia, to some point on the state line of Kentucky, at or
near the breaks of Sandy, and to that end may enter upon lands, survey
its route and acquire Jands for its purposes by condemnation or purchase
in the mode prescribed by law.

3. The said company shall have succession and a common seal, may
contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, may construct and
operate telegraph and telephone lines along or near its line, may con-
struct branch railroads in the mode prescribed by law, and by order of its
board of directors may consolidate and merge with any other railroad
company chartered by this or any other state with which its line may
connect, on such terms and under such corporate name as may be agreec
upon: provided, however, that such consolidated company shall] remair
a Virginia corporation so far as the right of suing and being sued is con
cerned, and a counterpart of any such contract or consolidation 01
merger shall be recorded in the office of the secretary of the common.
wealth of Virginia, and an official copy of such contract shall be evi-
dence of such consolidation or merger without proof of handwriting.

4. The capital stock of said company shall not be less than five hun.
dred thousand dollars, which may be increased by the board of directors
from time to time to an amount not exceeding ten millions of dollars,
and shall be divided into shares of the par value of one hundred dol.
lars per share. So much of the said stock as the board of directors
shall deem proper may be issued as preferred or guaranteed stock upon
such terms and conditions as the directors may determine upon. Said
shares of stock may be sold by the board of directors at such prices as
they may from time to time fix, and the same may be paid for in pro-
perty, money or services rendered. Said company may hold stock in other
corporations, and other corporations may hold stock in the said com-
pany. The board of directors of the said company may borrow money,
and may from time to time issue bonds and other evidences of debt on
behalf of the said company, and secure the same by mortgages and
deeds of trusts upon its works, property and franchises, including after-
acquired works and franchises.

5. The board of directors of the said company shall consist of seven
members, who shall from their number choose a president, but the
number of directors may be increased by the stockholders in any annual
meeting to a number not exceeding fifteen; and the said board of
directors may constitute from their number an executive committee of
not less than three members, to whom they may delegate such powers
of the board as they may deem proper.

6. The said company may be organized by a meeting of the incorpo-
rators herein named, or a majority of them, which corporators’ meet-
ing shall be authorized to receive subscriptions to the capital stock,
and upon the minimum amount thereof being subscribed may proceed
to hold a stockholders’ meeting and to organize the said company.

7. The said company shall begin construction of the said line of its
railroad within two years and complete the same within six years from
the passage of this act: provided, however, that for the formation of a
continuous line of railroad as hereinbefore provided, the said company
shall be authorized, by and with the consent of any other railroad com-
pany whose line extends in the same general direction as that of the
company hereinbefore incorporated, to use a portion of such other com-
pany’s track for a distance not exceeding twenty-five miles upon such
terms and conditions as may be agreed upon between the two com-
panies; and provided further, that if the Clinch river and Big Sandy
railroad company shall, within four years from the passage of this act,
complete and have in operation any portion of its road for a distance of
as much as forty miles from the Tennessee state line, then the same
shall be a sufficient compliance with the provisions of this act and the
charter of the company; but this proviso shall not be deemed to extend
the time for the construction of the main line of said company, or any
part thereof, further than the period of six years as aforesaid.

8. This charter shall be subject to amendment, alteration or repeal at
the pleasure of the general assembly.

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