Chap. 464.—An ACT to incorporate Hampton Roads railway and electric
company.

Approved February 20, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Alvah
H. Martin, W. J. Nelms, R. W. Shield, C. F. Day, Thomas W. Shelton,
George Nelms Wise, J. P. Andre Mottu, and John 8. Wise, 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 assigns, be, and they are hereby, created, constituted, and incor-
porated a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of
Hampton Roads 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

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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 re; ulations
concerning all matters or 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 cor-
poration: 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
generation of electricity, and the supplv of the electric current in the
city of Newport News and the towns of Hampton and Phoebus, as the

same are now or may hereafter be laid off, and in the counties of Eliza-

beth City and Warwick, 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 Com-
fort, in the said county of Elizabeth City, state of Virginia, and over
the bridges across any river, creek or stream between said city, towns,
or other place or places in said counties. The said company may con-
struct, equip, maintain, and operate its line or lines of railway over the
streets and other public places in said city and towns, and the roads
and other public highways of said counties, and over said bridges or any
or cither of them: provided, the councils of said city and towns, respec-
tively, and the boards 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, sub-
ject to the fee simple rights of adjacent land-owners, and the said
company may construct and maintain its line or lines of railw av 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, crecks, 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 mav
collect 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 current 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 electrie current may now or at any

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time hereafter be applied or applicable for its own use and for sale to
persons, natural or artificial, desiring to use the same, and may manu-
facture, generate, buy, sell, use, distribute, and furnish the same for
all or any said purposes to all and any persons, parties, and corpora-
tions 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 towns of Hampton and Phcebus, as the
same are now or may hereafter be laid off, or at such other place or
places, cities, towns, and villages 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 government, within the territory of the
national home for disabled volunteer soldiers, and at Old Point Com-
fort, in the said county of Elizabeth 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 dis-
tribution of electricity by the said company; to purchase and sell elec-
trical appliances 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,
subways, 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 towns of Hamp-
ton and Phcebus, 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 gov-
ernment, within the territory of the national home for disabled volun-
teer 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 illumi-
nation or heating, either or all, subject only to the consent or authori-
zation thereof by any incorporated citv 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
said works, structures, poles, wires, subways, underground conduits and
submarine 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 suit-
able for the proper, full, and convenient carrying on of the business
of said company, 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 other-
wise dispose of such lands, not exceeding the amount hereinafter
limited and provided for, and such easements therein or rights appur-
tenant 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 general laws of the state for the condemna-
tion 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 purposes 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
towns of Hampton and Phcebus, as the same are now or may herein-
after 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 land-owners, 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 relaving, repair-
ing, cementing, tapping, and extending said tracks and rails, conduits,
and cables, posts, poles, and wires, and generally for the purpose of
doing what mav be necessary and proper, in the prosecution of its busi-
ness of operating and maintaining its street railway, and of manu-
facturing, generating, distributing, and selling electricity as aforesaid:
provided, that when the roads, streets, avenues, lanes, alleys, and other
public highwavs shall have been so opened, dug up, or excavated for
such purposes they shall, as soon as practicable, be repaired and re-
stored 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 act,
as may be prescribed by the proper and duly constituted local authonri-
ties within whose limits and jurisdictions the said work has been done.
And the said company is further authorized and empowered to lav,
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, in the said county of Elizabeth
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 imposed 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.

6. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than fifty
thousand (%50,000.00) dollars, nor more than five hundred thousand
($500,000.00) dollars, to be divided into shares of the par value of one
hundred ($100.00) 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 without
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
capital 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 directors may receive money, labor, materials, bonds, stock, ser-
vices, real or personal property, leases, options, rights of way, and other
rights or easements, or the capital stock of other corporations in pay-
ment of subscriptions 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 and at such times
as may be agreed upon, with the subscribers. No stockholder of said
company shal be held liable or made responsible for the debts or lia-
bilities of said company in a sum beyond any balance due from said
stockholder to the said company on shares subscribed for by said stock-
holder.

7%. The company hereby incorporated may acquire by lease, purchase,
subscription 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
companies, 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
conferred on such other company or companies to transfer by sale or
lease their works, property, franchises, rights, privileges, and immuni-
ties to the company hereby incorporated, or to unite and consolidate
with it upon such terms as may be agreed upon between them. The
said company 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 likewise
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 payment for such plant, railway, works, franchises,
rights, or other property in money, or by issuing its bonds, notes, or
stock therefor.

8. 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
company.

9. The amount of real estate to be owned and held by the said
company, exclusive of that occupied by its road-beds, plant, and works,
shall not exceed ten acres in said incorporated city or towns, 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 intending to operate, which said five hundred acres may be
acquired by purchase, and it is hereby empowered and authorized to
sell, lease, convey, and encumber the same, as may be necessary or
proper for the conduct 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 the said company for the conduct of its business.

11. Each stockholder in the company shall, at all mectings 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 inconsistent 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 five nor more than nine, as the stockholders
may determine upon, and shall be elected at the annual meetings of the
stockholders, 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 office; 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 unexpired 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 said 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 cor-
poration, 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 em-
powered 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 company: provided, that such con-
nections can only be made with the consent of such other railway com-
pany, and upon such terms as may be agreed upon. The tracks of the
said company hereby incorporated may cross at grade, under or over
the tracks of any other railroad now built or which may hereafter be
built in said city, towns, or counties, or any or either of them, in the
mode prescribed by the general statutes of this state. But, in crossing
the yards or tracks of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway company, said
company must cross above or under grade, and in the erection of any
bridges over the yards or tracks of the Chesapeake and Ohio railway
company, as may be authorized by the council of Newport News, they
shall be located west or north of Fortieth street and at the sole cost
and expense of said Hampton Roads railway and electric company; said
bridges shall not be less than twenty-one feet from the level of said
tracks to the lowest part of the overhead structure, and that the plans
and location of piers or columns supporting same shall be approved by
the Chesapeake and Ohio railway company; said company shall not
use the rails of any other company crossing said yards or tracks 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 thirty-five miles in extent, and by such route
or routes as may be selected by its board of directors, and said com-
pany may purchase or lease any such lateral or branch road which may
be constructed, together with all the rights, powers, properties, privi-
leges, 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 com-
panies, or consolidate or merge its stock, property, and franchises with
and into any other company or companies operating or authorized to
operate any connecting railway or railways upon such terms and under
such name as may be agreed upon between the companies so uniting or
connecting, merging or consolidating, and for that purpose 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 consolidation and merger be filed
in the office of the state board of public works: provided, that nothing
herein contained or in any of the preceding sections of this charter,
shall be construed as giving the said company hereby incorporated the
right, power, or authority to consolidate, combine, merge, or connect
with any other company or companies, or sell, lease, or convey its
property, privileges, or franchises, until its line of street railway is
completed from Newport News to Old Point Comfort, Virginia, and
such consolidation, combination, merger, or connection, sale, lease,
or conveyance, is hereby expressly prohibited until the completion of
said line from Newport News to did Point Comfort, Virginia.

15. Whenever the said company shall exercise any of the powers or
privileges conferred by this act, it shall be liable to the same taxes as
may be imposed, by the law, upon other corporations or persons exercising
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 i in lawful money of the United States.

16. Work shall commence upon the construction of said road within
nine months from the granting of franchises by the councils of the city
of Newport News, Virginia, and the towns of Hampton and Phcebus,
Virginia, and shall be completed within two years from the granting
of such franchises by said councils: provided, that the construction of
said road shall be commenced within one year and be completed within
three years from the passage of this act.

1%. This act shall be in force from its passage.