CnChap. 596.—An ACT to incorporate Newport News and Old Point railway and
electric company.

Approved March I, 1898.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That William
H. Butler, M. FE. Ingalls, William J. Payne, W. A. Post, Carter M.
Braxton, R. M. Booker, S. G. Cummings and Samuel Regester, or such
of them as may accept the provisions of this act, and such other persons
as are now or may hereafter be associated with them, their successors
and assiens be, and they are hereby, created, constituted, and incerpo-
rated a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of Newport
News and Old Point railway and electric company; and by that name
shall be known in law, shall have perpetual succession, and have the
power to contract and be contracted with, to sue and be sued, plead and
be impleaded, defend and be defended in all courts, whether in law or in
equity, and may make, have, and use a common seal, and the same break.
alter, renew, or change at pleasure, and may make, ordain, establish, alter
and amend such by-laws, ordinances, and regulations concerning all
matters of organization, management, and business not herein specifically
provided for as the said company may think proper, and generally may
do every and any act and thing necessary to carry this act into effect, or
to promote the objects and designs of the corporation: provided, such
by-laws, ordinances, regulations, or acts be not inconsistent with the
laws of the United States or of the state of Virginia.

2. The said company shall be, and it is hereby, empowered and au-
thorized to promote, establish, conduct, and maintain the business of a
general street railway and electric company; to locate, buy, lease, con-
struct, erect, establish, equip, maintain, operate, own, or sell, or other-
wise acquire and dispose of a line or lines of street railway or railways,
and a plant or plants, works or other necessary equipment for the gene-
ration of electricity, and the supply of the electric current in the city of
Newport News and the town of Hampton, as the same are now or may
hereafter be laid off, and in the counties of Elizabeth City and War-
wick, state of Virginia, as may be determined upon from time to time
by said company, and, with the consent of the proper authorities of the
United States government, within the territory of the National home for
disabled volunteer soldiers, and at Old Point Comfort, in the said county
of Elizabeth City, state of Virginia, and over the bridges across any
river, creek, or stream between said city, town, or other place or places
in said counties. The said company may construct, equip, maintain,
and operate its line or lines of railway over the streets and other public
places in said city and town, and the roads and other public highways.
of said counties, and over said bridges, or any or either of them:
provided, the councils of said city and town, respectively, and the
hoards of supervisors of said counties respectively, who are hereby
vested with authority so to do, shall consent to the location of the said
line or lines of railway on the streets and highways and over the bridges
within their respective limits and jurisdictions, subject to the fee simple
rights of adjacent landowners, and the said company may construct and
maintain its line or lines of railway over the said bridges only with the
consent of the persons or corporations owning or controlling said bridges,
or the said company may build bridges over said rivers, creeks, or
streams by and with the consent of the duly constituted authorities.

3. The said company hereby incorporated may transport passengers,
freight and baggage over the line or lines of its railway, and may col-
lect fare and tolls for same. It shall be lawful for said company to
operate its said railway line or lines by horses, electricity, cable or other
available motive power; the said company may manufacture, generate,
employ, distribute, furnish, buy and sell electricity, the electric cur-
rent, or other suitable and proper materials or fluids, for public and
private use, for light, heat and power, or any and all other uses to
which electricity and the electric current may now or at any time here-
after be applied or applicable, for its own use and for sale to persons,
natural or artificial, desiring to use the same, and may manufacture,
generate, buy, sell, use, distribute and furnish the same for all or any
said purposes to all and any persons, parties and corporations desiring
to use the same, and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between
the contracting parties within the limits of the said city of Newport
News and the said town of Hampton, as the same are now or may here-
after be laid off, or at such other place or places, cities, towns and vil-
lages within the said counties of Elizabeth City and Warwick, state of
Virginia, as may be determined on from time to time by said company,
and, with the consent of the proper authorities of the United States
rovernment, within the territory of the National home for disabled vol-
unteer soldiers, and at Old Point Comfort, in the said county of Eliza-
beth City, in the state of Virginia.

4. The said company shall have the power to buy and sell all the
materials necessary for the equipment and maintenance of its said line
or lines of railway, and for the manufacture, generation and distribution
of electricity by the said company ; to purchase and sell electrical appli-
ances and fixtures in connection with and for the purpose of introducing
its electricity into general use ; to construct, purchase or lease, maintain,
operate and ‘extend suitable works, structures, machinery and proper and
desirable appliances, including poles, wires, subway s, conduits, stations,
terminal and other fixtures necessary for the full, proper and convenient

carrying on of the business of said company in the roads, streets,
avenues, lanes, alleys and other public highways in the said city of
Newport News and the said town of Hampton, as the same are now or
may hereafter be laid off, and in and at such other place or places, cities,
towns or villages, in the said counties of Elizabeth City and Warwick,
state of Virginia, and with the consent of the proper authorities of the
United States government, within the territory of the National home for
disabled volunteer soldiers, and at Old Point Comfort, in the said county
of Elizabeth City, state of Virginia, for the manufacture, generation,
distribution and sale of electricity for motive power and public and
private illumination or heating, either or all, subject only to the consent
or authorization thereof by any incorporated city or town, which said
cities and towns are hereby vested with the power to grant such consent
and authority, and subject to the consent and authorization thereof by
the boards of supervisors of the several said counties of the state, who
are hereby vested with the power so to do, within and through which
suid works, structures, poles, wires, subways, underground conduits and
eubmarine cables and other electrical conductors, ‘and all proper and
desirable appliances may be constructed, such or any line or lines of
poles and wires, and of underground conduits or subways, or submarine
cables or other conductors and conduits for the carriage or support of
electrical wires, with the necessary fixtures, stations, terminals, and such
other facilities connected therewith as may be necessary and suitable for
the proper, full and convenient carrying on of the business of said eom-
pany, and the same may sell, lease and otherwise dispose of as it may
deem best; and to take and acquire by purchase, lease, condemnation
or otherwise, and to hold or thereafter to sell or otherwise ‘dispose of such
lands, not exceeding the amount. hereinafter limited and provided for,
and such easements therein or rights appurtenant thereto as may be
necessary and convenient for any of the uses of said company, the mode
of condemning any lands or rights being the same provided by the gen-
eral laws of the state for the condemnation of lands by and for the use
of companies incorporated for works of internal improvement ; the land
in which the easement is to be given or to which the right is appurtenant
being used for purposcs of description in the oath and all the proceedings
of condemnation.

5. The said company may utilize for its purposes steam and water
power, or any other available power, and in order to do so may acquire,
construct, maintain and. operate, lease, sell and otherwise dispose of all
buildings, structures, shops and machinery that may be convenient and
suitable for the business of said company. And the said company after
having first obtained the franchise or permission so to do from the duly
constituted authorities shall be, and it is hereby, authorized to open,
dig up and excavate the roads, streets, avenues, lanes, alleys and other
public highways in the said city of Newport News and in the said town
of Hampton, as the same are now or may hereafter be laid off, and in
and at such other place or places, cities. towns or villages in the said
counties of Elizabeth City and Warwick, state of Virginia, and with
the consent of the proper authorities of the United States government,
in the territory of the National home for disabled volunteer soldiers and
in and at Old Point Comfort, in the said county of Elizabeth City, state
of Virginia, subject to the fee simple rights of adjacent landowners, for
the purpose of laying its tracks and rails, conduits and cables, erecting
posts and poles and stringing wires thereon, in, on, along and under said
roads, streets, avenues, lanes, alleys and other public highways for the
purpose of operating its street railway, and for supplying electricity to
persons and corporations as aforesaid, and for the purpose of relaying,
repairing, cementing, tapping and extending said tracks and rails, con-
duits and cables, posts, poles and wires, and generally for the purpose of
doing what may be necessary and proper in the prosecution of its busi-
ness of operating and maintaining its street railway, and of manufac-
turing, generating, distributing and selling electricity as aforesaid:
provided, that when the roads, streets, avenues, lanes, alleys and other
public highways shall have been so opened, dug up or excavated for
such purposes they shall, as soon as practicable, be repaired and restored
to their former condition as nearly as possible by said company at its
own cost and subject to such conditions, regulations, restrictions and
penalties, which are not in conflict with the provisions of this aet, as
may be prescribed by the proper and duly constituted local authorities
within whose limits and jurisdictions the said work has been done.
And the said company is further authorized and empowered to lay,
locate and construct, erect and maintain its conduits and cables, posts,
poles and wires for the conveyance and distribution of electricity across
Hampton river and Mill creek, north of bridge, in the said county of Eliza-
beth City, above or beneath the surface of the water of said river and
creek: provided, that said conduits and cables, posts, poles and wires,
shall not in any wise obstruct or interfere with the free navigation of
said river and creek, and for the purposes of this act the said company
shall, and is hereby, expressly invested with all the powers, rights,
privileges and franchises conferred and subject to all the restrictions 1m-
posed by chapter forty-six of the code of Virginia, eighteen hundred
and eighty-seven, and the acts of the general assembly of Virginia
amendatory thereof, and other laws of the state of Virginia as far as

applicable. Canale
6. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than two hin-
dred thousand dollars nor more than two million dollars, to be divided into
shares of the par value of one hundred dollars each. Subscriptions to the
capital stock may be received by the incorporators herein named, or any
three of them, at such time and place as they may appoint and with or with-
out public notice, as they may deem best, and as.soon as the minimum of
the capital stock has been subscribed said subscribers may organize as
a corporation and proceed to the election of a board of directors and
a president and one or more vice-presidents, and provide for the selec-
tion of such other officers, and adopt such by-laws and regulations as
may be necessary for the control and management of the business and
affairs of the said company, and shall] have and exercise all the powers
and functions of a corporation under their charter and the laws of the
state. The board of directors of the company may receive thereafter
further subscriptions to the capital stock. All subscriptions to the capi-
tal stock of said company shall be upon such terms and conditions and
under such regulations as the board of directors shall prescribe; the par
value of all the shares shall be one hundred dollars each, and the direc-
tors may receive money, labor, materials, bonds, stock, services, rea]
or personal property, leases, options, rights of way, and other rights or
easements, or the capital stock of other corporations in payment of sub-
scriptions to the capital stock at such valuation as may be agreed upon
between the directors and subscribers, and may make such subscriptions
payable in such manner and amounts at such times as may be agreed
upon with the subscribers. No stockholder of said company shall he
held hable or made responsible for the debts or liabilities of said com-
pany in a sum beyond any balance due from said stockholder to said
company on shares subscribed for by said stockholder.

7. The company hereby incorporated may acquire by lease, purchase,
subseription to or purchase of the capital stock, and use, operate, main-
tain and extend the railway, works, property, franchises, rights, privi-
leges and immunities of any other railway and electric company or com-
panies, or of any company or companies incorporated for the pur-
pose of manufacturing, distributing, using or purchasing electricity or
having the power so to do, and the company hereby incorporated may
unite and consolidate with such other company or companies upon such
terms as may be agreed upon between them; and power is hereby con-
ferred on such other company or companies to transfer by sale or lease
their works, property, franchises, rights, privileges and immunities to
the company hereby incorporated, or to unite and consolidate with it
upon such terms as may be agreed upon between them. The said com-
pany hereby incorporated may purchase or otherwise acquire and hold
the stock or bonds of any other company or corporation chartered under
the laws of this or other states; and may Jikewise acquire and hold,
or afterward sell, any other property necessary to the conduct of the
business of the said company hereby incorporated, and may make pay-
ment for such plant, railway, works, franchises, rights or other property
in money, or by issuing its bonds, notes or stock therefor.

S. It shall be lawful for any corporation or company, and they are
hereby empowered to subscribe for, purchase or otherwise acquire and
hold or guarantee the stock or bonds of the said company hereby incor-
porated, and the said company hereby incorporated may sell, lease or
convey its property, privileges and franchises to any other such com-
any.

9. The amount of real estate to he owned and held by the said com-
pany, exclusive of that occupied by its roadbeds, plant and works, shall
not exceed: ten acres in said incorporated city or town, nor more than
five hundred acres in the said counties of Elizabeth City and Warwick,
in the state of Virginia, in or through which it may be operating or in-
tending to operate, which said five hundred acres shall be acquired by
purchase, and it is hereby empowered and authorized to sell, lease, con-
vey and encumber the same, as may be necessary or proper for the con-
duct of its business and the prosecution of its work by deeds of bargain
and sale, deeds of trust and mortgages. ,

10. The principal office of the said company shall be in the city of
Newport News, or the town of Hampton, or such other place in the state
of Virginia, as may be deemed convenient or necessary by the board of
directors of said company for the conduct of its business.

11. Each stockholder in the company shall, at all meetings or elec-
tions, be entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in his
name, and the majority of the stockholders may enact such by-laws and
regulations for the management and conduct of the affairs and business
of said company as they may deem proper and expedient, and not incon-
sistent with the laws of the state of Virginia. The board of directors
shall be stockholders of said company, and shall consist of such number,
not less than tive nor more than nine, as the stockholders may deter-
mine upon, and shall be elected at the annual meetings of the stock-
holders, to be held on such days as may be named in the by-laws of the
company, and shall continue in office for the term of one year from and
after the date of their election and until their successors shall have been
elected and accepted the duties of their oflice ; and in case of the death,
resignation, or incapacity of any member of the board of directors during
his term of office, the said board shall elect his successor for the unex-
pired term.

12. It shall be lawful for said company, and it is hereby authorized
and empowered, to borrow money, make, execute, issue, and sell or
negotiate its bonds from time to time for such sums and on such terms
and for such price as its board of directors may deem expedient and
proper for any of*the purposes of sail company, and may secure the
payment of said bonds by mortgages or deeds of trust upon all or any
portion of its property, real, personal, or mixed, its contracts, rights,
franchises and privileges, including its franchise to be a corporation, and
it may, as the business of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey
and encumber the same. The said company shall have the right to lend,
or otherwise invest, its accumulated funds or surplus; to purchase and
own the shares or bonds of any other company or corporation, and to
sell, or otherwise dispose of the same at its pleasure.

13. The said company hereby incorporated is authorized and empow-
ered to use, on any portion of its line or lines of railway the track of any
other railway company, with the consent of said other railway company ;
and may cross with its tracks, either at, above, or below grade, the tracks
of any other railway company; and may connect its tracks with the
tracks of such other railway company : provided, that such connectior
can only be made with the consent of such other railway company, and
upon such terms as may be agreed upon. The tracks of the said com-
pany hereby inoorporated may cross at grade, under or over the tracks
of any other railroad now built or which may hereafter be built in said
city, town, or counties, or any or either of them, in the mode prescribed
hy the general statutes of this state, but in crossing the yards of the
Chesapeake and Ohio railway company, the said company must cross
above or under the same, and shall not use the rails of any other com-
pany crossing said yards at grade, if any such there be.

14. The said company is authorized and empowered to locate, con-
struct, equip, operate and maintain any lateral or branch roads or
tramways, not exceeding twenty miles in extent, and by such route or
routes as may be selected by its board of directors, and said company
may purchase or lease any such lateral or branch road which may be
constructed, together with all the rights, powers, properties, privileges
and franchises appertaining thereto, and may pay for the same with
money, or by issue of its stock, notes or bonds. And said company
may connect or unite its road with that of any other company or
companies, or consvlidate or merge its stock, property and franchises
with and into any other company or companies operating or author-
ized to operate a connecting railway or railways upon such terms
and under such name as may be avreed upon between the companies
so uniting, or connecting, merging or consolidating, and for that pur-
pose power is hereby given to it and to such other company or
companies to make and carry out such contracts as will facilitate
and consummate such connection, merger or consolidation, or any
lease or sale: provided, that a copy of every such contract of consolida-
tion and merger be filed in the office of the state board of public works.

15. Whenever the said company shall exercise any of the powers or
privileges conferred by this act, it shall be lable to the same taxes as may
be imposed by the law upon other corporations or persons exercisiny
like powers and privileges, and all taxes, debts or other demands
against it which may become due to the commonwealth of Virginia shall
be paid in lawful money of the United States.

16. Work shall commence upon the construction of said road within
two years from the granting of this charter and shall be completed
within five years.

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