Chap. 833.—An ACT to incorporate the Blackstone and southern railroad
company.

Approved March 6, 1900.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That J. M.
Harris, Freeman Eps, R. W. Tuggle, E. G. Booth, and Joseph M. Hurt,
and their associates, successors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby,
constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the
Blackstone and southern railroad company.

2. The said company shall have perpetual succession, and shall have
power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be
defended in all the courts, whether in law or in equity; and make and
have a common seal, which it may alter and renew at pleasure; and
shall have, possess, and enjoy all the rights, powers, and privileges con-
ferred, and be subject to all the general restrictions imposed by the laws
of this state upon such bodies politic and corporate. |

3. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than ten
thousand dollars, and may from time to time he increased by the stock-
holders of said company, in meeting assembled, to any amount not
exceeding fifty thousand dollars, and shall be divided into shares of
one hundred dollars each; and the board of directors may dispose of
the same at such prices and upon such terms and under such con-
ditions as they may determine; and the directors may receive cash,
labor, material, bonds, stocks, real or personal property in payment of
subscriptions to the capital stock at such valuation as may be agreed
upon between the directors and the subscribers, and may make such
916 ACTS OF ASSEMBLY.

subscriptions payable in such manner or amounts and at such times as
may be agreed upon; the incorporators above named, or a majority of
them, may receive subscriptions to the capital stock in such manner as
they may deem best, and no advertisement of the time and place at
which the books will be open for subscriptions shall be necessary. The
said company shall have the power to issue preferred stock upon such
terms as may be determined upon by a majority of the stockholders.

4. The board of directors of the said company shall consist of five
members, which number may be increased to any number not exceeding
twelve at any annual meeting of said company, the directors to hold
office for the term of one year and until their successors are elected and
accept the office, or they may be divided and elected as is provided by an
act approved March second, eighteen hundred and eighty-eight (session
acts eighteen hundred and eighty-seven and eighteen hundred and eighty-
eight, page four hundred and eight); and the said board of directors
shall, from their number, elect a president, and may elect such other
officers and employees as they may deem necessary for the proper con-
duct of the affairs of the company, and they shall fill any vacancy that
may occur in the board or in the office of president.

5. The said Blackstone and southern railroad company is hereby
authorized, empowered, and permitted to locate, construct, equip, main-
tain, and operate a railway of standard or narrow gauge, with one or
more tracks, to be operated by steam, electric or any other motive
power, from Blackstone, in the county of Nottoway, in this state, bv
such route as may be hereafter adopted by the directors of the said
company, through such portion of the counties of Mecklenburg, Bruns-
wick, Lunenburg, and Dinwiddie as may be determined upon to any
point in either of said counties, and the said company shall have the
right to construct bridges across any rivers or streams, whether the
same be navigable or not; provided, the navigation of the said rivers
and streams shall not be interfered with. The said company shall
have the right to cross the track of anv other railroad companv at
grade, or over or under the same, subject to the provisions of the gen-
eral laws of the state of Virginia.

6. The said company is authorized and empowered to locate. con-
struct, equip, and operate any lateral branch or tramway, not exceed-
ing twenty miles in length each, which a majority of its stockholders
may determine to construct and operate, and by such route as mav be
determined upon by its board of directors, and mav at any time. with
the consent of the majority of the stockholders, extend its line of rail-
way by such route as its directors may determine upon, and may cross
any rivers or streams that may lie in the route determined upon: pro-
vided, the navigation of said rivers and streams so crossed shall not be
interfered with, and the said company may connect or unite its said
road with that of any other company or companies or consolidate or
merge its stock, property, and franchises with those of any other com-
pany or companies operating in this state, and upon such terms and
under such name as may be agreed upon between the companies sd
uniting or connecting, merging or consolidating; and may enter into
traffic or other arrangements of contract with any other railroad com-
pany, whether organized under the laws of this state or not, and to these
ends power is hereby given to such company to make and carry out
such contract by lease, purchase, acquisition of stock in such company
or otherwise as will facilitate and consummate such connection or con-
solidation or such traffic contract, upon such terms as may be agreed
upon by the board of directors of this company and any other such
company.

7. It shall be lawful for the said company to borrow money and to
issue and sell its bonds, either coupons or registered, from time to time,
for such amount, amounts, or sums, and on such terms as its stock-
holders may deem expedient and proper for its purposes, and may secure
the payment of said bonds by one or more mortgages or deeds of trust,
conveying in trust all or any portion of its property, real, personal, and
mixed, its contracts and privileges and its chartered rights and fran-
chises, including its franchise to be a corporation, and also any prop-
erty it may acquire after the date of said mortgage, to such trustee
of trustees as to the board of directors may seem proper; and it may
as the business of the company shall require, sell, lease, convey, and
encumber all or any portion of its property, rights, privileges, or fran-
chises, including its franchise to be a corporation.

8. It shall be lawful for said company to subscribe to and hold
shares of the capital stock in any manufacturing company, railroad
company, or other corporation organized under the laws of this or any
other state; and the said company may also hold or guarantee the
bonds of any other such company; and any manufacturing company,
railroad company, or other corporation organized under the laws of this
or any other state may subscribe to and hold shares of stock in said
company, or may purchase, hold or guarantee the bonds of the said
company.

9. The said company may acquire by condemnation, according to the
laws of the state of Virginia, the lands required for the rights of way
of the said railroad and its branches, and for the necessary stations and
depots, yards, and terminal facilities for its operation; and may use
the public roads of any county through which its line may run, by and
with the consent of the judge of the county courts of the respective
counties and upon making compensation to the abutting land-owners,
and may in like manner use the streets of any city or town through
which its line may run by and with the consent of said city and town.

10. Each stockholder in the said company shall at all meetings o1
elections be entitled to one vote for each share of stock registered in
his name; and the president and the board of directors of the said com-
pany may enact such laws, rules, and regulations for the management
of the affairs of the said company as they may deem expedient.

11. Whenever the said corporation shall exercise any of the privileges
conferred by this act it shall be liable to the same taxes as may be
imposed by law upon like corporations or persons exercising like privi.
leges; and all taxes due the commonwealth by the said company shall
be paid in lawful money of the United States, and not in coupons.

12. In the event of a consolidation with any other company this
company shall remain a Virginia corporation so far as the right of suing
and being sued is concerned. .

13. The construction of the said road shall begin within two year:
from the first day of July, nineteen hundred, and be completed within
five years from the date of the passage of this act.
14. This act shall be in force from its passage.