Chap. 858.—An ACT to incorporate the Grayson and Carroll electric railway
company,

Approved March 3, 1898,

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That J. B.
Waugh, J. D. Perkins, S. C. Plummer, W. C. Fields, Boyden Cox, J.
K. Fulton, R. L. Kirby, F. J. Lundy, J. M. Parsons, J. W. Vaughan
and H. C. Weaver, or such of them as may accept the provisions of this
act, and such other persons and corporations as they may associate with
them, and their successors and assigns, be, and they are hereby, created
and constituted a body politic and “corporate, by the name of the Gray-
son and Carroll electric railway company, and by such name shall have
perpetual succession, may contract and be contracted with, sue and be
sued, plead and be impleaded, i in all courts, whether in law or in equity;
may make, have, and use a common seal, and change the same at plea-
sure; may make, publish and enforce such by-laws, rules and regula-
tions for the conduct of the business of the corporation as may be con-
sistent with the laws of this state and of the United States, and venerally
may do every act and thing necessary to carry this act into effect or to
promote the objects and designs of the corporation.

2. The said company shall have the right to locate, construct, equip,
maintain and operate a railway, commencing at Chestnut Yard, or some
other point on the North Carolina extension of the Norfolk and Western
railroad, in either the county of Grayson or Carroll, and running thence
by such route as is deemed suitable by the board of directors of said
company to such point or points in the county of Grayson as may be
determined upon. It may operate its railway by electricity, steam, or
any other motive power; may construct, purchase, own and operate elec-
tric power and light plants within either or both of said counties for the
purpose of furnishing power to operate said railway, and to furnish light
or power to persons, towns and corporations, or either, upon such terms
as may be agreed upon between the contracting parties; may construct
and maintain any device, including water wheels, dams, sluices and
waterways, in and along New river and its tributaries, in said counties
of Carroll and Grayson, necessary for its purposes. The road may be
run along, parallel, and across the roads and turnpikes of said counties,
if deemed proper, by and with the consent of the judges and boards of
supervisors of the said counties.

3. The capital stock of said company shall not be less than twenty-
five thousand dollars, and may from time to time be increased to any
amount not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars, divided into
shares of ten dollars each, by issue and sale of shares, preferred or com-
mon stock, or both, upon such terms and conditions, and under such
revulations as the board of directors shall prescribe; and the said diree-
tors may receive cash, labor, material, bonds, real or personal property,
or other means available for its purposes in payment of subscriptions to
its capital stock, at such valuation as may be agreed upon between the
directors and the subscribers. It shall be lawful for said company to
borrow money, issue and sell its bonds from time to time, and upon
such terms as its board of directors may deem expedient and proper, for
any of the purposes of the company, and may secure the payment of
said bonds, by mortgages or deeds of trust upon all or any of its pro-
perty, real, personal or mixed, its contracts and privileges, including
its franchise to be a corporation, and it may sell, lease, convey and in-
cumber the same.

4. The said company may construct and operate lateral or branch
roads or tramways from any point on its main line, not exceeding
twenty miles in length, to any springs, ore banks, mines, or other oper-
ations insaid counties; may connect or unite its road with that of any
other company now or hereafter to be constructed in either of said
counties, and consolidate or merge its stock, property and franchises with
those of any other company authorized or operating a connecting line of
railroad, upon such terms as may agreed upon between it and the com-
pany so uniting or connecting, merging or consolidating, and for that
purpose authority is hereby given to it and such other company or com-
panies to make and carry out such contracts as will facilitate and con-
summate such connection, merger or consolidation: provided, that a
copy of every such contract shall be filed in the office of the board of
pupae works.

The said company may acquire by condemnation, according to the
laws of Virginia, or by donation, purchase or otherwise, the lands re-
quired for the right of way, depots, stations, power-houses, and also for
the erection of poles and wires as may be necessary for the transmission
and distribution of electricity to motors or cars along its line, and to
connect its road with a plant or plants from which its power is ‘derived.

6. The persons first named in this act, or such of them as may accept
the provisions thereof, shall have the powers of a board of directors for
the purpose of organization: may open books and receive subscription
to the capital stock, and after five days’ notice to subscribers shall pro-
ceed to the election of a president, board of directors and such other
officers as may be deemed necessary, who shall continue in office until
their successors are elected. Each stockholder shall, at all meetings or
elections, be entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in his
name. The board of directors shall be elected by the stockholders an-
nually, and all other officers shall be elected or appointed by the direc-
tors annually, and all vacancies shall be filled by them.

7. Any county or town along the line of said railroad may, pursuant
to the general laws of Virginia, subscribe to it, by vote of a majority of
the qualified voters of such county or town, an amount to be deter-
mined by the directors of said company not to exceed thirty thousand
dollars, or an amount which will not require an imposition of an annual
tax in excess of twenty cents on the hundred dollars.

8. The board of directors may establish offices and agencies at such
places as they may deem proper, but the principal office of the com-
pany shall be located in this state.

J. No stockholder in said company shall be held liable or made re-
sponsible for its debts and liabilities in a larger or further sum than the
amount of any unpaid balance due the said company for stock sub-
scribed for by said stockholder.

10. The said company shall be required to commence the construc-
tion of its railroad within two years from the passage of this act and to
complete and operate as much as five miles of said road within five
years thereafter, otherwise the powers, privileges and franchises hereby
granted shall be void.

11. All taxes due the conimonwealth by said company shall be paid
in lawful money of the United States and not in coupons.

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

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