Chap. 59.—An ACT to incorporate the New River, Holston and western
railroad company.

Approved January 15, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That W. F. C.
Merriman, E. B. Younkin, C. LaRue Munson, Martin W illiams, and W.
S. Price, or anv five of them who mav accept the provisions of this act,
their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, made a body
politic and corporate, under the name and the style of the New River,
Holston and western railroad company, under which name it may sue and
be sued, plead and implead, contract and be contracted with; shall have
perpetual succession, and may make by-laws and regulations for the
government of said company and its successors, not inconsistent with
the laws of the commonwealth.

2. It shall be lawful for said New River, Holston and western railroad
company to construct, operate, and maintain, in whole or in part, a line
of railroad of standard or narrow gauge, with single or double track,
with metal, for the purpose of carrving passengers and freight, beginning
on the Norfolk and western railway at Narrows, Giles county, Virginia.
and running in a -westerly direction through the counties of Giles and
Bland, and from thence by. the most feasible route to a point on the
Tennessee or Kentucky. line, as said company may deem proper.

3. Said company, or. its. successors, may fram time to time issue and
sell its common and preferred stock ‘in shares of fifty dollars each ($50.00°,
66 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

as it may decm most advantageous to the interest of the company, to an
amount not to exceed one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000), upon
such terms and at such prices as may be authorized by the stockholders
of said company.

4. Said company may borrow money for its needs, may issue and sell
its bonds in whole or in part, and may secure the same by mortgage or
deed of trust upon its property and franchise or any part thereof.

5. To furnish a basis of capital it shall be law ful for said company,
or any of its successors, to receive grants and subscriptions in land and
coal, iron ore, timber, cross-ties, or other materials and labor or service
at their fair value, upon such terms as may be agreed on with the board
of directors of said company, and may make payment for same in its
stocks or honds, and may hold or sell the same at pleasure.

6. For the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad it
shall be lawful for any county, city or town in Virginia, through or near
which the said railroad shall pass, to subscribe to the capital stock of
the said company in the manner and in the amounts prescribed and
fixed by the general law in reference to such subscriptions.

?. The said company shall have power to cross at grade over or under
any other railroad now constructed, or that shall be constructed here-
after, at any point on its route, in the manner prescribed by the general
law of this state, to unite its road with any of said roads, and to enter
upon the grounds of any such railroad companies, with the necessary
sidings, switches, and conveniences to facilitate the economical exchange
of passengers and traffic between the respective roads, all of which is to
be done in the mode prescribed bv the laws of this state.

8. No stockholder shall be hable for the indebtedness of the com-
pany in a greater sum than may be due by him on stock subscribed for.

9° The directors of said company shall elect from their number a
president, and one or more vice-presidents; they shall be elected and their
number fixed by the stockholders in their annual meetings, and they
shall hold their office until their successors are elected, and thev may
fill anv vacancies in the board. Each stockholder shall be allowed to
cast one vote each in person or by proxy for each share of stock held
by him.

10. In organizing said company the persons named in this act shall
constitute the first board of directors, and shall serve until the first
meeting of the stockholders, and the said incorporators may act and
receive subscriptions to the capital stock at any time and place, and when
twenty-five thousand dollars ($25,000) is subscribed they shall convene
the stockholders and organize said company. At said meeting one of
their number shall preside, and the chairman and secretary of said
meeting shall certify on the books of the company to the legal organi-

zation of said company. Said company shall commence its work of con-
struction of its railroad within six months from the passage of this act,
and complete the same within five years.

11. All taxes due the commonwealth by the said company shall be
paid in lawful money of the United States, not in coupon.

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