Chap. 271.—An ACT to incorporate the town of Virgilina, in the count
Halifax.

Approved February 6, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That the 1
Virgilina, in the county of Halifax, as the same has heretofore or
hereafter be laid off into lots, streets, or allevs, shall be, and the same
is hereby, made a town corporate by the name of V irgilina, and by that
name shall have and exercise the powers conferred upon towns by
chapter forty-four of the code of Virginia of eighteen hundred and
elvhty-seven, and be subject to and governed by the provisions of the
said chapter applicable to towns, and all laws which mav hereafter be
enacted by the general assembly of Virginia for towns, so far as the
same are not in conflict with this act.

2. The boundaries of said town. shall be as follows: Beginning in
the center of Florence avenue, where the same crosses the state Ime
between Virginia and North Carolina; thence with said state line in
an easterly direction one-half mile to a rock; thence under right angle
to said state line in a northerly direction one-half mile to a rock; thence
under right angle and parallel with said state line in a westerly direction
one mile to a rock; thence under right angle and in a southerly direction
one-half mile to a rock in the state line; thence with the said state line
In an easterly direction one-half mile to the beginning.

There shall be elected on the first T hursday in December, nineteen
hundred and one, and every two years thereafter, one elector of the
said town, who shall be denominated the mayor, and six electors, who
shall be denominated the councilmen of said town, who shall qualify
by taking the several oaths prescribed by law before, and enter upon the
duties of their offices on the first day of January next succeeding their
election, and shall hold said oflices for the term of two years, and there-
after until their successors are elected and qualified, unless sooner
removed,

he mavor and said councilmen shall, together, constitute the
council of said town; and in the council so composed (five of whom shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business) shall be vested the
corporate powers of the town.

5. The council shall, at its regular meeting in January, nineteen hun-
dred and two, and every two vears there after appoint a sergeant, clerk,
assessor, and treasurer, and may appoint policemen and such other
ollicers and agents for the proper conduct and business of the town as
they may deem necessary, prescribe their duties, fix their compensation,
and require and take from them such bonds, with good security, and in
such penalty as they may deem proper, with condition for the faithful
discharge of the duties of their offices: provided, that if such appoint-
ments are not made at the regular meeting in January, then the same
may be made at any subsequent meeting. The officers so appointed shall
hold their respective oflices for the term of two years, unless sooner re-
moved, and thereafter until their suceessors are elected and qualified.
The same person may, in the discretion of the council, be appointed to
and hold at the same time more than one of said offices. The sergeant
of said town shall, in addition to the duties that mav be prescribed by
the council, have the same powers and discharge the same duties as
constables within the corporate limits thereof and to the distance of two
miles beyond the same.

6. The council shall have subject to the provisions of this act and
of chapter forty-four of the code of Virginia, of eighteen hundred and
eighty-seven applicable to towns, the control and Management of the
fiscal and municipal affairs of the town, and all property, real and per-
sonal, belonging to it, and may make such ordinances, orders, and by-
laws and regulations as they may deem necessary to enforce and carry
out the powers vested in said council; and in addition thereto the follow-
ing powers, which are hereby vested in them:

First. To secure the inhabitants from contagious, infectious, or other
dangerous diseases.

Second. To regulate the building of stables, privies, and hog pens;
to require and compel the abatement and removal of all nuisances or any-
thing which, in the opinion of the majority of the council, or in the
opinion of the mayor under an ordinance vesting in him such discretion,
is a nuisance within the said town, at the expense of the person causing
the same, or the owner or owners of the ground whereon the same
may be, the collection of which said expense may be enforced in the
same manner as fines due said town; to provide for the drainage of lots
by proper drains; to prevent or regulate slaughter houses and soap fac-
tories within the said town, or the exercise of any dangerous, offensive,
or unhealthy business, trade, or employment therein.

Third. To prevent hogs, dogs, cows, or other animals from running
at large in the town, and may subject the same and the owners thereof
to such levies, taxes, and regulations as they may think proper.

Fourth. To establish and maintain a fire department in the said town
and provide for the regulation of the same, and to compel the residents
of the town to aid and assist the fire department when necessary. They
shall have power to establish fire limits in the said town, within which
no building shall be erected without the consent of the council, unless
the outer walls thereof be of brick, stone, or some other incombustible
material.

Fifth. To prevent the riding or driving of horses or other animals
at an improper speed; to prevent the throwing of stones, playing mar-
bles, or engaging in any employment or sports on the streets, side-
walks, or public alleys or grounds; to prohibit or punish the abuse or
cruel treatment of horses or other animals in the said town; and to pro-
hibit or punish the tying of horses or other animals to any fence, palings,
or other objects on or along the streets and public ways in said town.

Sixth. To restrain and punish drunkards, vagrants, and street beg-
gers; to prevent vice and immorality; to preserve public peace and good
order; to prevent and quell riots, disturbances and disorderly assem-
blages; to suppress houses of ill-fame and gambling houses; to prevent
and punish lewd, indecent, and disorderly conduct or exhibitions in the
said town, and expel therefrom persons guilty of such conduct who
have not resided therein as much as one year.

Seventh. To prevent any cow, horse, hog, or other animal from injur-
ing or trespassing upon any public square or grounds within the cor-

orate limits of the said town or grazing thereon, whether the same
belong to the state, town, or county, and from injuring or destroying
any tree growing in such square or grounds.

7%. Where, by the provisions of law, the council have authority to
pass ordinances on any subject, they may prescribe punishment by fine
or imprisonment, or both, for all violations thereof: provided, that in
no case shall the fine exceed fifty dollars, or the imprisonment sixty
days. Fines may be recovered with cost upon warrants issued in the
name of the town of Virgilina before the mayor or any councilman of
said town. Whenever judgment is rendered against any person for a
fine, the officer trying the offender may require immediate payment
thereof, and in default of such payment may commit the party so in
default to jail until such fine and cost be paid, or may compel him to
work out such fine and costs on the public streets or ways or other im-
provements of said town upon such terms as the council may by ordi-
nance prescribe. All fines for the violation of the ordinances of said
town shall be paid into the treasury thereof, and be appropriated as the
council may determine.

8. Until a jail or prison house is provided for said town by the coun-
cil thereof, they shall have the use of the jail of Halifax county for the
safe-keeping and confinement of all persons sentenced to imprisonment
under the ordinances or by-laws of the said town.

9. Any person applying to the county court of Halifax county for
license to sell spirituous liquors, wines, beer, ale, or porter, or any mix-
ture thereof, within the corporate limits of the town of Virgilina or
within one mile of the corporate limits of said town, shall produce before
the court of said county a certificate of the council of said town to the
effect that the applicant is a suitable person, and that no good reason
is known to the council why the license should not be granted. And
the said court shall not grant any license to sell liquors within the said
limits until and unless such certificate be given.

10. To meet the expenditures that may be lawfully chargeable to the
said town, the council may annually levy a town levy of so much as
in its opinion may be necessary upon all taxable persons and property,
resident or situate within the said town, not exempted from taxation by
the laws of the state: provided, that a capitation tax not greater than
fifty cents per head on the male inhabitants of the said town over the
age of twenty-one years may be levied in any one year: and provided
further, that the tax so levied on the real and personal property within
the said town do not exceed forty cents on the one hundred dollars of
the assessed value thereof for any one year.

11. The council of said town may impose, levy, and collect a license
tax on all persons doing business in said town, or upon any person or
employment therein which it may deem proper, whether any tax be im-
posed thereon by the state or not. As to all such persons or employment
the council may levy a direct tax, or may require a license therefor,
under such regulations as it may prescribe, or levy a tax thereon.

12. The council may, in the name of and for the use of the said town,
contract loans and issue bonds therefor, bearing interest at the rate
of not more than six per centum per annum, payable semi-annuallv,
and redeemable in thirty-four years or less, which bonds shall not be sold
at less than their par value, and the said bonds shall be exempt from
taxation by the said town: provided, the council shall not contract anv
loan or issue bonds therefor unless the same be authorized by a vote
of the resident freeholders of said town, and a majority of the vote be
in favor thereof: and provided further, that in no case shall the aggre-
gate debt of the said town at any one time exceed seven and one-half
per centum of the assessed value of the property, real and personal,
within the corporate limits of the said town; and in any election held
under this section the order therefor shall state the object for which
the money is to be used.

13. The council of said town may pass all by-laws, rules, and ordi-
nances, not repugnant to the constitution and laws of the state, which
it may deem necessary for the good order and government of the town,
the management of its property, the conduct of its affairs, the peace,
comfort, convenience, order, morals, health, and protection of its citi-
zens or their property, and to do such other things and pass such other
bv-laws and ordinances as may be necessary or proper to carry into full
effect any power, authority, capacity, or jurisdiction, which is, or shall
be, granted to or vested in said town, or in the council or officers thereof,
or which may be necessarily incident to a municipal corporation.

14. From and after this act goes into effect, and until the council-
men and mayor to be elected under its provision shall have been elected
and qualified, Walter W. Tuck, M. D. Hubbard, John Ford, Alfred
Hays, 8S. M. Torian, C. S. Garner are hereby appointed councilmen, and
W. H. Pannebaker, mayor, and they may qualify before any justice of
the peace or notary public in Halifax county, and thereupon shall con-
stitute the council and mayor of the said town of Virgilina, and may
organize and perform the duties of said council and mayor.

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