Chap. 572.—An ACT to incorporate the Armstrong Land and Improvement. Com-
pany.

Approved April 2, 1902.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That Mary F.
Armstrong, Matthew C. Armstrong, Richard Armstrong, M. K. Arm-
strong, and F. M. Walcott, or such of them as may accept the provisions
of this act, their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, in-
corporated and made a body politic and corporate under the name and
stvle of the Armstrong Land and Improvement Company, and by that
name shall be known in law, and have perpetual succession, and shall
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended in all
courts of law and in equity, and may have a common seal, and shall have,
enjoy, and exercise all the rights, privileges, and powers pertaining to cor-
porate bodies and to natural persons necessary for the purposes of this
act.

2. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than thirty
thousand dollars nor more than fifty thousand dollars, and shall be di-
vided into shares of the par value of one hundred dollars each; said cer-
tificates shall be signed by the president and countersigned by the secre-
tary of said company. The said certificate shall be transferable upon the
books of the said company by the said subscribers or purchasers, their
personal representatives or assigns, or by their attorney duly authorized
in writing, attested by one witness. The said stock shall be non-assessable,
and the stockholders shall be liable only for the price agreed to be paid
for stock subscribed for by them, and no stockholder holding paid-up
stock shall be liable for any contribution or for any debts, liabilities, or
obligations of said company.

3. It shall be lawful for such company, in payment of the capital stock
of said company, to receive money, lands, or other property at such valu-
ation as may be agreed upon between the directors and subscribers or
purchasers, and to deliver therefor so many paid-up shares of stock as
may be agreed upon. And the incorporators hereinbefore named, or any
one or more of them, may sell and transfer to said company, for so much
money or paid-up stock of said company as may be agreed upon between
them, any property, rights, privileges, franchises, contracts, options, or
other property of any kind or description owned by them, respectively.

4, The said company is authorized to purchase, acquire, hold, sell, and
convey lands, or any interest in lands, in the counties of Etizabeth City.
Warwick, and York, not exceeding one thousand five hundred acres in
any one county, the city of Newport News, and the towns of Hampton
and Phoebus, in the State of Virginia; to build and erect houses and im-
provements thereon, and to lay out any of its lands in lots or parcels,
with sewers, streets, allevs, or parks, and to work, improve, and develop
the same, and to lease, sell, or otherwise dispose of the same, or the pro-
ceeds thereof, as the said company may deem proper; to erect and con-
struct water works on any of the lands of the said company for the fur-
nishing, sale, and distribution of water or water power; to construct and
maintain docks, wharves, and warehouses on the lands of said company:
provided, the rights of navigation are not impeded or obstructed by the
erection of said wharves or docks; to construct and operate ferries from
the lands of said company to any point on the shores of Hampton Roads,
or any tributary of the same; to construct, own, and operate any turn-
pike over the lands of said company.; to own leases of oyster grounds, and
to cultivate the said grounds by planting oysters or shells thereon, the
same to be subject to the oyster laws of the State of Virginia.

5. The five persons named in this act, or such persons as shall accept
the provisions hereof, shall constitute the first board of directors of this
company, and shall continue in office until the first meeting of the stock-
holders thereof. The board of directors shall appoint one of their num-
ber president, and may fill any vacancy that may occur on said board.
Whenever the minimum amount of said stock shall have been subscribed,
and the board of directors shall clect a president, said company shall be
considered legally organized, and may proceed to the transaction of buai-
ness. A general meeting of the stockholders of said company shall be
held at any time as prescribed and provided by the by-laws of said com-

pany.
6. The board of directors may establish offices and agencies at such
places as they may deem proper, but the principal office of said company
shall be at some place in the county of Elizabeth City, in the State. The
first meeting of the stockholders shall be called by the board of directors
hereinbefore named, to be held after the minimum amount of stock shall
have been subscribed, and at any time within twelve months thereafter,
and at such place as may be designated by the board, and all annual
meetings of the stockholders thereafter shall be held on the second Tues-
day in January in each year, and at the principal office of said company.
A general meeting of the stockholders of the said company shall be held
at any time as prescribed and provided by the by-laws of said company.

7. It shall be lawful for said company to sell or issue its bonds, from
time to time, for such sums and on such terms as its board of directors
may deem expedient and proper in the prosecution of any of its works,
and for the purchase of lands or otherwise; and may secure the payment
of said bonds by mortgages or deeds of trust upon all or any portion of
its property and franchises, including its franchise to be a corporation ;
and may reserve the right to the company, or confer on the holder of any
of the bonds of the said company, the right to convert the principal
thereof into stock of the company at any time. And it shall be lawful
for said company to subscribe for and to hold shares in the capital stock
of any street railway, water, gas, electric, or other company or corpora-
tion whenever the board of directors of the company shall deem it to its
interest to do so, and any such other corporation may guarantce or hold
the bonds or stock of the said company, and to lend its own funds on
real estate or other securities.

8. All taxes due the Commonwealth of Virginia by said company shall
be paid in lawful money of the United States, and not in coupons.

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