Chap. 706.—An ACT to incorporate the Black mountain coal and coke
company.

Approved March 83, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Charles T.
Ballard. S. Thruston Ballard, A. 8. Hughes, Curran Pope, R. C. Bal-
land Thruston, T. G. Williams, and S. Zorn, or such of them as
may accept the provisions of this act, their associates and successors,
be, and they are hereby, incorporated under the name and style of the
Black mountain coal and coke company, and by that name shall he
known in law, and shall have perpetual succession and have power to
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, and
make and have a common seal, and alter and renew the same at pleas-
ure; and shall have, enjoy, and exercise all the rights. powers, and privi-
leges pertaining to corporate bodies and necessary for the purposes of
this act, and make by-laws, rules, and regulations consistent with ex-
isting laws of the state for the government of all under its authority,
the management of its estates and properties, and the due and orderly
conduct of its affairs. ,

2. The said company is authorized and empowered to purchase, hold,
own, lease, and control in any manner; grant, bargain, sell, mortgage,
convey, and otherwise dispose of real and personal estate in this state
or elsewhere, and may deal in goods, wares and merchandise; and the
said company is authorized and empowered to lay out its lands, or any
part thereof, into parcels or lots of convenient size, with intervening
roads, lanes, streets, and alleys, and develop, work, improve, and culti-
vate, or otherwise dispose of the same in such manner and upon such
terms as the said company may think proper, and may contract for,
purchase, lease, hold, construct, operate, and maintain any work of
public or private improvement in this state or elsewhere, within the
scope of its powers, as authorized by this charter, with the right and
power of laying out, constructing, acquiring, and operating any railroad
or railroads or other road from any of the lands or works of said company
to any point or points on the Norfolk and western railway, the Louisville
and Nashville railroad, and the Virginia and southwestern railway, or
any of them, or any other railroad that is now or may hereafter be con-
structed in or through the county of Lee or the county of Wise, in this
state, not to exceed fifty miles in length, and may acquire rights of way
therefor by purchase or by condemnation, pursuant to the general law of
this state regulating the same: provided, however, that nothing in this
section shall be construed as exempting the said company from the pro-
visions of chapter fifty-one of the code of Virginia, edition of eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven.

3. The said company is authorized and empowered to mine and quarry
coal, iron ore, marble, limestone, and other mineral substances, and pre-
pare and manufacture the same for use and sale in whatever manner
or form it may adopt; and to manufacture and prepare for market and
sale all other raw materials, mineral or vegetable, produced by or from
its own lands or obtained from others; and for such purpose may erect
and operate all kinds of furnaces, mills, manufactories, coke-ovens,
works and machinery, stores, buildings, and tenements necessary for the
enjoyment of the privileges herein granted to the fullest and most ample
extent.

4. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than one
hundred and fifty thousand dollars, divided into shares of one hundred
dollars each, and may be increased to any amount not exceeding three
hundred thousand dollars, by issue and sale of shares thereof, from
time to time, under such regulations, upon such terms, and at such
price as the board of directors of the said company shall from time to
time prescribe; and the directors may receive money, land, or other
property, real or personal, leases, options, mines, minerals, or other rights
or easements, labor, or service, in payment for subscriptions to the capital
stock at such valuation as may be agreed upon between the directors
and the subscriber.

5. The said company may hold such amount of rea] estate as may be
convenient or necessary for the use and enjoyment of the powers and
privileges hercin conferred: provided, the same shall not exceed twenty-
five thousand acres in any one county.

6. The seven persons first named in this act shall constitute the first
board of directors of the said company, and shall continue in office until
the first meeting of the stockholders thereof. At such first meeting,
and at every annual meeting, so many directors shall be elected as may be
prescribed by the by-laws and regulations of said company, not to be
ess than five in number, who may be removed by the stockholders in
general meeting; but unless so removed, shall continue in office until
their successors shall be elected and qualified. Each stockholder in the
company shall, at all meetings or elections thereafter, be entitled to
one vote for each share of stock registered in his name.

7. The board of directors shall be stockholders of said company. They
shall appoint one of their number president, and may fill any vacancy
that may accur in said board, unless by removal; in which case the same
shall be filled by the stockholders in general meeting. Whenever the
minimum amount of capital stock herein named shall have been sub-
scribed, and the board of directors shal] have elected a president, the
tax on this charter having been duly paid, said company shall be con-
sidered legally organized and may proceed to the transaction of business.
The board shall appoint, to hold during its pleasure, the subordinate
officers and agents of the said company, prescribe their compensation,
and take from them such bonds with such security as they may deem

t. ,

8. The board of directors may establish offices at such places as they
deem proper, but the principal office of said company shall be located in
the state of Virginia.

9. The annual meeting of the stockholders of the said company shall
be held in the town of Big Stone Gap, Wise county, Virginia, on the
first Wednesday in June of each year, or on such other day and at such
other place as the stockholders may, by resolution adopted in any annual
meeting, to take effect at the next annual meeting, prescribe. A general
meeting of the shareholders of said company may be held at any time,
as provided by the ninth section of chapter forty-seven of the code of
Virginia, edition of eighteen hundred and eighty-seven.

10. The said company shall and may issue and sell certificates of stock,
either preferred or common, in said company to subscribers thereof, in
such amounts and on such terms, and at such price as the board of
directors of the said company shall from time to time prescribe; such
certificates to be signed by the president and countersigned by the secre-
tary of said company: provided, that no preferred stock or shares therein,
shall be issued or sold by the said company unless the issue and sale of
the same shall have been previously authorized by a majority of the
stockholders of the said company present, either in person or by proxy,
at a general meeting of such stockholders. The said certificates shall be
transferable only upon the books of the company by the said subscribers,
their personal representatives, or duly authorized agent or attorney; and
the said certificates, when so transferred as aforesaid, may be returned
to the said company and cancelled, and new certificates of stock shall be
issued in lieu thereof to the person entitled thereto for a like number.

11. It shall be lawful for the said company to issue and sell its bonds
from time to time for such sums, at such price, and on such terms as its
boards of directors may deem expedient and proper in prosecution of
any of its works or business; and to secure the payment of said bonds by
mortgages or deeds of trust upon any or all of its property and fran-
chises, including its franchise to he a corporation; and to subscribe for.
purchase, or otherwise acquire the capital stock or bonds of any other
incorporated company, whenever the board of directors of this corpora.
tion shall deem it to its interest so to do.

12. No stockholder in this corporation shall be liable or responsible
for its debts and liabilities in a larger or further sum than the amount
of any unpaid balance due to this corporation for stock subscribed fot
by said stockholder.

13. This corporation shall pay in current money of the United States,
all its taxes and other demands against it due the state.

14. The charter hereinbefore granted, except as to matters herein
otherwise specially provided for, is hereby declared to be subject to the
provisions of the general law in regard to chartered companies and cor-
porations as expressed in the code of Virginia, edition of eighteen
hundred and eighty-seven, chapters forty-six, forty-seven, and fifty-one.

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