Chap. 106.—An ACT to provide the establishment, proper construction, and per-
manent improvement of the public roads and landings, for building and keeping
in good order and repair of all public roads, bridges, causeways, and wharves
in the several counties of this State, and to repeal chapter 43 of the Code of
Virginia.

Approved March 12, 1904.

1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, ‘That the board of
supervisors of their respective counties shall have the control, slpervision,
management, and jurisdiction over all of the county roads, causeways
and bridges, landings and wharves erected or repaired within this State.

2. Whenever, in the opinion of the board of supervisors of any county,
it is necessary to examine any of the roads therein as it may designate, or
when any person apples to the said board to have a road or landing
therein established or altered, it may appoint five viewers, who shall be
resident freeholders of the county, any three of whom may act, to examine
such roads or routes, and report upon the expediency of altering the loca-
tion or grade of any road, or of establishing any new road, or building or
repairing any bridge, or to lay off any road such width and at such grade
as it may prescribe: provided, every road shall be thirty fect wide, and
the grade of no road hereafter located shall exceed four degrees at any
one point, unless the said board of supervisors order a diffe ‘rent width or
different grade. If no one of the viewers be a surveyor, the said board of
supervisors may employ one, if necessary, to assist s aid viewers, and they
may require the road superintendent, hereinafter provided, to advise with
amd assist said viewers In the discharge of their duties.

3. The said viewers, before exectiting their duties, shall take an oath
that they will faithfully and impartially discharge their duty as viewers ;
they shall meet on the lands so proposed to be ‘taken, but may examine
other routes than that proposed for any road, and report in favor of the
one they prefer, with their reasons for the preference. A map or diagram
shall be returned with their report; and they shal] report specially (one
the convenience and inconvenience that will result, as well to individual
as the public; (two) whether the said road will be one of such mere pri
vate convenience as to make it proper that it should be opened and kep
in order by the person or persons for whose convenience it is desired
(three) whether any yard, garden, or orchard will have to be taken
(four) the names of the land-owners on such route; (five) which of sucl
land-owners require compensation; (six) what will be a just compensa
tion, to the land-owners requiring compensation, for the said land ‘s
taken, and for the damage to the residue of the tract, beyond the peculia:
benefits to be derived in respect to such residue, from the road or land.
ing to be established; (seven) all other facts and circumstances in thei
opinion useful in enabling the board of supervisors to determine the ex.
pediency of establishing or altering the road or landing, and they shal
forthwith file their report with the clerk of the board.

4. At the next meeting of the board of supervisors after receipt of saic
report, unless the opinion of said board be against establishing or alter-
ing the road or landing, they shall require their clerk to issue process tc
summon. the proprietors and tenants of the lands on which it is proposed
to establish or alter such roads or landings, to show cause against the
same. ‘The summons shall be directed, executed, and returned as a sum-
mons may be in other cases, except that it may be personally served in the
county on an agent or tenant of any proprietor not within the same, and
such service shall be equivalent to service on such proprictor. And if any
proprietor reside out of this State and be not within the county, or have
no agent or tenant known to the board of supervisors or its clerk residing
therein, or if the true owners or proprietors of the lands, or any part
thereof, be not known to the said clerk or board, the said clerk or board
may order notice to all whom it may concern to be published for four
successive weeks in some newspaper of general circulation, or posted at
the front door of the courthouse of the county on some court day, to ap-
pear and show cause against establishing or altering the road or landing,
as the case may be. The cost of such publication shall not exceed the cost
of publishing an order under sections thirty-two hundred and thirty-five
of the Code, and shall be paid by the county. Personal service of said
summons on a non-resident and return thereof may be in the mode and
with the effect prescribed by section thirty-two hundred and thirty-two
of the Code.

5. Upon the return of said process duly executed, defence may be made
to the said proceedings by any party, and the board of supervisors may
near testimony touching the expediency or propriety of establishing or
altering the road or landing. Upon such hearing, unless the board of
supervisors be of opinion that the road or landing ought not to be estab-
ished or altered, in which case it shall so order, it shall proceed to fix
ipon a just compensation to the proprietors and tenants for the land
sroposed to be taken and the damage accruing therefrom.

But if any tenant or proprietor desire it, or if the board of supervisors
ee cause for doing, it shall appoint five disinterested resident freeholders
yf the county as commissioners (any three of whom may act) for the pur-
pose of ascertaining a just compensation for the land to be used for such
road or landing. They shall meet on the lands of such proprietors and
tenants as may be named in the order of the board of supervisors at a
certain place and day therein also specified, of which notice shall be given
by the sheriff to such proprietors and tenants or their agents, except only
that it need not be given to one present at the time of making the order.
Any one or more of the commissioners attending on the land as aforesaid
may adjourn, from time to time, till the business shall be finished. The
commissioners, in the discharge of their duties, shall comply in all re-
spects with the provisions of the act concerning the exercise of the power
of eminent domain, approved January eighteenth, nineteen hundred and
four, so far as applicable, and forthwith make return of their report and
the certificate of the justice to the board of supervisors; and unless good
cause be shown against the report the same shall be confirmed. If, how-
ever, good cause be shown against the same, or the commissioners report
their disagreement, or fail to report within a reasonable time, the board
of supervisors, as often as seems to it proper, may appoint other commis-
sioners for the purpose of ascertaining the compensation aforesaid. When
any report is confirmed, the board of supervisors shall establish or alter
the road or landing, and with or without gates, as to it may seem proper,
and provide for the payment of the compensation allowed. |

If such applicant, proprietor, or tenant is dissatisfied with the deci-
sion of the board of supervisors in respect to the opening or location of
the proposed road or the amount of compensation allowed, he may of
right appeal to the circuit court of said county, and the said court shall
hear the matter de novo, with the further right of appeal as provided by
general law. Upon the hearing of said appeal, the said court shall as-
certain, and by its order determine, first, whether said road ought to be
established at all; and if so, where located; second, if established, the
amount of compensation to which such proprietor is entitled, and shall
certify the same to the said board of supervisors. Said board shall, at
its next meeting, determine by a recorded vote whether the expenditure
is deemed proper, and if a majority of the members present shall deem
it inexpedient, the expenditure shall not be made.

6. When the road or landing is established or altered, the county shall
be chargeable with the compensation to the proprietor or tenant, and
all costs incurred in the proceedings: provided, however, that when the
record shows that the sum allowed by the circuit court on appeal, as
compensation to any proprietor or tenant is not more than the amount
allowed him by the board of supervisors from whose decision the appeal
was taken, such proprietor or tenant shall be adjudged to pay the costs
occasioned by such appeal. When the board of supervisors decides
against the application to establish or alter a road or landing, the appli-
cant shall pay the costs incurred in the case, except the compensation of
the viewers, and except such costs as may be paid by any proprietor or
tenant on an appeal to the circuit court: and provided further, that when
it shall appear to the board of supervisors that the opening and estab-
lishing or altering of such road will be for mere private convenience,
then the board of supervisors may order the same upon condition that
such applicant pay, in whole or in part, the compensation to the pro-
prietor or tenant, and the costs of the proceedings, and keep said road in
order; but the said road shall not be opened and established or altered
until such compensation and! costs shall have been first paid or the writ-
ten consent of the proprietor or tenant given.

%. Not more than one acre of land shall be condemned for any land-
ing, and no road or landing shall be established upon or through the
lands of any cemetery, or through the lands of any seminary of learn-
ing, without the consent of the owners thereof.

8.-A statement in writing showing the number of days each viewer
and surveyor appointed or employed under the provision of this act,
was employed, shall be sworn to and presented to the board of super-
visors, and the said board may allow to each a reasonable compensation
not exceeding one dollar per day for each viewer, and not exceeding two
dollars and fifty cents per day for each surveyor, and mileage of four
cents per mile for each mile necessarily traveled not exceeding one
dollar.

9. When any road is altered, it shall be discontinued to the extent of
such alteration and no further. Any person may apply to have a county
road or landing discontinued, after posting notice of the intended appli-
eation on the first day of a term of the circuit court at the front door of
the courthouse of the county and at two public places in the neighbor-
hood. After said notice has been so published for at least twenty days,
the board of supervisors, at their next meeting, shall appoint not less
than three nor more than five viewers, to view such road or landing, and
report in writing whether, in their opinion, any, and if any what, incon-
venience would result from discontinuing the same. Upon the said re
port and other evidence, if any, and after the land proprietors along the
road proposed to be discontinued have been notified, the board of super-
visors may discontinue such road or landing, taking care in every case of
an, established post road not to discontinue the same until another has
been substituted: provided, that all matters pending in the county courts
in relation to the opening of public roads and the building of public
bridges, causeways, wharves, and so forth, shall be, and the same are
hereby, transferred to the boards of supervisors of the respective counties.

10. Every owner or occupier of 4 dam shall, so far as a road passes
over the same, keep such dam in good order, at least twelve feet wide at
the top, and! also keep in good order a bridge of like width over the pier-
heads, flood-gates, or any waste-cut through or around the dam; and shall
erect and keep in good order a strong railing on both sides of such bridge
or dam, unless such railing be dispensed with by the board of supervisors.
If he fails to comply with this section he shall be fined two dollars for
every: failure of twenty-four hours, but the fine shall not in any case ex-
eeedi fifty dollars, and where a mill dam is carried away or destroyed the
owner or occupier thereof shall not be thenceforth subject to such fine
until one month after the mill shall have been put into operation. Such
fine shall be recoverable before any justice of said county, and when col-
lected shall be paid to the treasurer of said county, and placed by him to
the credit of the road fund of said county.

11. The board of supervisors of each county shall annually levy, along
with the county levy, a road tax upon the property, real and personal,
assessed for taxation in their county. Such tax shall be not more than
forty cents upon every one hundred dollars in value of such property, and
the same shiall be collected, accounted for, andi paid out on the warrant of
the board as if it were a county Jevy. Such tax shall be applied to the
building and repair of bridges, the payment of costs and damages inci-
dent to the alteration of roads or the establishment of new roads and
landings, the purchase of road graders, scrapers, and all machinery, tools,
wagons, carts, and teams necessary for the proper working and repair of
all the roads of said county, for the support of the county chain-gang,
and the payment of the road superintendent and his deputies for their
services as hereinafter provided. After the payment of the aforesaid ex-
penses, if there be any of said fund remaining unexpended, the said board
of supervisors may, out of said fund, purchase crushers and engines, crush
stone for sale to the various road districts of its county at such price as
shall be just and equitable, and macadamuize such roads in said county as
said board may deem necessary and proper to be macadamized at the ex-
pense of said general fund, or it may apportion the remainder of said
fund, or any part thereof, among the several magisterial districts of its
county, in proportion to the amount of road tax paid by each district to
the county fund, to be expended in working, keeping in order, and repair-
ing the public roads in such district; the said board of supervisors may
purchase any grader, scraper, wagon, cart, tools, teams, and harness which
are owned by any road district in its county, at a fair and just price, to
be paid out of said general fund, and such price so paid shall be expended
in working, keeping in order, and repairing the public roads in-said dis-
trict.
12. The board of supervisors of each county shall annually levy, along
with the county levy, a road tax upon the property, real and: personal,
assessed: for taxation in the several magisterial districts of their county,
which shall be applied to the working, keeping in order, and repairing
the public roads in such district. Such tax shall be not more than forty
cents upon every one hundred dollars in value of such property, and the
same shall be collected, accounted for, and paid out on the warrant of the
board as if it were a county levy, except that the fund collected from each
magisterial district shall be kept separate by the county treasurer, and a
different rate of tax may be prescribed for different districts in the same
county. The amount collected in each district, together with the amount
apportioned to each district under the provisions of the preceding section,
shall be expended therein: provided, that when the board: of supervisors
decide to levy a tax under this and the preceding section exceeding a total
of thirty cents on the one hundred dollars’ worth of property, then. before.
such; tax shall be levied the question as to such tax shall be submitted to
the people of the county or district affected as to whether such tax shall
be levied. Such election shall be held’ under the provisions of law in
regard to the issuance of bonds for road purposes, except that upon the
ballot used shall be printed “For increase of road tax” and “Against in-
crease of road tax’: and provided, that no voter whose residence in a
town exempts him from said tax shall be allowed to vote on said question.
18. The board of supervisors shall, from time to time, prescribe and
note upon the records of their proceedings such plans, specifications, re-
strictions, and directions as they deem best for the working, keeping in
order, and repairing the roads and bridges in their respective counties,
ineluding any special plans, specifications, restrictions, or directions which
they may prescribe for particular roads or bridges, and they shall, from
time to time, fix the price allowed for the hire of hands, and for the use
of teams, plows, and other implements on the public roads.

14. Except when commissioners or superintendents of roads are pro-
vided for by some special road law, there shall be appointed biennially
during the month of January, by the board of supervisors by the vote of
a majority of all the supervisors of the county, a superintendent of roads,
who shall cither be a civil engineer or a person well versed in road build-
ing, whose duty it shall be to supcerintend and direct the opening, repairs,
and keeping in order of all county roads and bridges within the county
for which he is appointed, in such manner and under such regulations
and restrictions as may be prescribed by the board of supervisors of his
county: provided, that the first appointment of superintendents of roads
be made in the month of March, nineteen hundred and four.

15. The term of office of such superintendent of roads shall be for two
years, commencing on the first day of February next succeeding his ap-
pointment, except that the terms of the superintendents first appointed
shall begin on the first day of April, ninetecn hundred and four, and on
the first day of March, nineteen hundred and six. He shall qualify as
other county officers are required by law to qualify, except that he may
qualify before the county clerk, and he shall enter into and acknowledge
a bond in such penalty as the board of supervisors may prescribe, not less
than one thousand dollars, and failure to qualify and give bond as afore-
said, prior to the commencement of his term, shall vacate his office. Such
bond shall be payable to the county for which he is appointed, and with
condition for the faithful discharge of his duties. A vacancy in the office
of superintendent of roads shall be filled by the board of supervisors of
the county wherein the vacancy occurs, and in case of a vacancy where the
office has been filled partly by one superintendent and partly by another
in any one year, the annual compensation shall be apportioned between
them by the said board in such manner as may be just. A recovery pn
any such bond shall be for the benefit of the road fund of said county.

The board of supervisors shall determine the amount of compensation
which superintendent of roads shall reeeive per annum, and such com-
pensation shall not be increased or diminished during his term of office ;
they shall also determine when said compensation shall be paid.

16. The board of supervisors of any county shall have power to remove
the superintendent of roads at any time during his term of office for neg-
lect of duty, malfeasance in office, or incompetency. And the said stiper-
intendent shall be Hable to prosecution for any neglect of duty or mal-
feasance in office, and upon conviction shall be fined in cach ease not less
than five nor more than fifty dollars, which fine, when collected, shall be
paid to the treasurer to the credit of the road fund of said county: pro-
vided, that if in any case a fine be imposcd by the justice, the superin-
tendent shall have the right of appeal as is provided by law in other mis-
diemeanor cases.

1%. The said. superintendent of roads shall have charge of and be re-
ACTS OF ASSEMBLY. . Boo i, 1%

sponsible for all machinery, appliances, and bole furnished by the board
of supervisors, and shall, upon the authority of the board, hire such
teams, wagons, and labor at current prices as shall be necessary to work
said roads, and if the county be so large and the mileage of roads therein
so great as to render it impossible or impractical, for said superintendent
to supervise personally the cpening and working .of all. of said roads, he
may, with the approval of said board of supervisors, appoint so many
(eputies, who shall have a practical knowledge of road building, as he
shall deem necessary at such rate of compensation and upon such terms
as shall be approved by said board. Deputics shall qualify and give bond
in the same manner, and may be removed in the same way and for the
same causes as their principals.

18. If the mileage of the roads in any county be so great as to render
it impossible or impractical for the superintendent of roads to personally
supervise the working and repairing thereof, the board of supervisors, or
the said superintend ent, with the approval of said board, may divide said
county into road districts, @ said districts to contain a magisterial district,
or any part thereof, or one or more magisterial districts, and parts of
other magisterial districts, as to them mav seem best. The said board
shall furnish and equip a necessary force of hands, teams, machinery,
tools, and so forth, for each of said road districts, which shall be under
the supervision and management of the superintendent of roads, or one
of his deputics.

19. When pubhe roads form dividing lncs between magisterial dis-
tricts, the board of supervisors shall divide such roads between the said
listricts as they may (deem best, and the superintendent shall annually,
and whenever so required by the supervisors of his county, report to them
on oath the general condition of the public roads and bridges in the re-
spective magisterial districts of his county, and the amount of money
expended on said roads and bridges in the respective magisterial districts
in the employment of deputies, “contractors, laborers, or materials, and
such other matters relative thercto as the board of supervisors shall sug-
gest and require. ‘Phe said superintendent shall keep an itemized account
of all amounts expended in working and repairing the roads in each
magisterial district. and report the saine to the board of supervisors, and
the said board shall, in issuing its warrant for said work and material,
express on the face of said warrant for w hich magisterial district it was
so issued.

20. In any county or city in which no chain-gang has been established
the judge of the circuit court of such county or of the cor poration court
of such city shall, upon the application of the beard of supervisors of any
county in which a chain- -gang has been establisned, order any person con-
fined in the jail of lis county or city, and liable to work in chain- gangs,
to be déliver au by the jailer of his county or city to the person authorized
to take charge of and work such prisoner or prisoners in the chain-gang
of such other county, which order shall specify the length of time such
person may be required to work in such chain-cang. T he jailer shall take
1 receipt for every person delivered by him under such order, which shall
discharge him from all liahility for the escape of such prisoner. Tn con-
jderation of the services and work tu be performed by said: prisoner. the
said board of supervisors shall keep and maintain said prisoner out of the
road fund of said county until the end of the term of confinement of said
prisoner without further cost to the State.

Every person held to labor under the provisions of this chapter, for
the non-payment of any fine imposed upon him or for the non-payment
of any costs, shall be allowed so much per day for each day he labors, as
in the opinion of the superintendent of roads his services are worth, not
to exceed twenty-five cents per day, and in addition thereto shall be al-
lowed twenty-five cents per day for each day of his confinement, whether
he labors or not, all of which shall be credited on said fine and costs, or
costs where there is no fine. A statement of the amount of the fine, with
the costs, and the number of days’ labor required to discharge the same,
shall be made out under the direction of the judge, and: delivered to the
person in charge of the chain-gang at the time he receives the delinquent.
No person shall be held to labor in any chain-gang, for the non-payment
of any fine imposed upon him, for a longer period than now provided by
law.

Whenever a pereon is sentenced to confinement in the county jail, and
there is no chain-gang in the county in which he is sentenced, and the
supervisors of any county in which a chain-gang is established have not
applied for such prisoner, he may, in lieu of such confinement, in the dis-
cretion of the court, be compelled to work on the public roads of the
county in such manmer and under such regulations the judge of the court
may determine, for the number of days for which he has been sentenced
to confinement.

21. The superintendent of roads shall cause the roads of his county
to be kept cleared, smoothed of rocks and obstructions, of necessary
width, well draimed, and otherwise in good order, and secure from the
falling of dead timber thereon. He shall cause to-be placed and kept
across every stream where it is necessary and practicable a sufficient
bridge, bench, or log for the accommodation of foot passengers. He
may take from the most convenient lands so much wood, stone, gravel,
or earth as may be mecessary to be used in constructing or repairing any
road, bridge, or causeway therein; he shall take such earth from the most
convenient and the nearest place so as to save the expense of hauling
such earth any distance, and, for the purpose of draining the road, may
cause a ditch to be cut through the lands adjoining the same: provided,
such wood and other materials be not taken from, and such ditch be
not cut through any yard, or garden without the consent of the owner,
and provided said superintendent shall not cut, deface, or destroy any
fruit trees nor any ornamental trees planted or left for ornament or
shade, nor any hedge planted or left as a protection to cattle: provided
further, that the same does not in any wise interfere with travel along
said road.

22. If the owner or tenant of any such land shall think himeelf in-
jured thereby, and the superintendent of roads, or his deputy, can agree
with such owner as to the amount of damage, they shall report the
same to the board of supervisors, or, if they cannot agree, a justice, upon
application to him, shall issue a warrant to three freeholders, requiring
them to view the said land, and ascertain what is a just compensation
to such owner or tenant for the damage to him by reason of anything
dome under the preceding section. The said freeholders, after being
sworn according to the provisions of section three of this act, shall ae-
cordingly ascertain such compensation and report the same to the board
of supervisors. Said board may allow the full amount so agreed upon,
or reported by said freeholders, or so much thereof as upon investiga-
tion they may deem reasonable, subject to such owner or tenant’s right
of appeal to the circuit court as in other cases.

23. When a bridge or causeway, or either is necessary, and it is not
practicable for the superintendent of roads to have it built or repaired,
the board of supervisors may contract therefor, and to this end, appoint
one or more commissioners to receive proposals.

24. The board of supervisors of one county may notify the board of
supervisors of another, that a road is necessary from the line of the
former to a place in the latter, or that a bridge and causeway, or either,
is necessary over a place between the two counties. If the board to
which such notification is sent concurs in this opinion, it shall, in the
former case, proceed in like mdnner as when a person applies to have
a road established; and in the latter, it shall appoint three commie-
sioners to meet at such place between the two counties, on a certain
day and agree with commissioners of the other board as to the manner
and conditions of doing the work. Upon this order being communicated
to the former board, it shall make a similar appointment.

The persons so appointed shall; after such conferences, report the
result thereof to the board of supervisors by which they are respectively
appointed. Upon such report being made, each of the boards shall
direct the same, or any other commissioners, not exceeding three for
each county to unite with commissioners of the other board in receiving
proposals for doing the work in such manner and on such conditions as
may have been agreed on by the commissioners, or in any other manner,
or upon any other conditions, that may be concurred in by the two
boards.

25. If the board, to which such notification is sent, fail to appoint
viewers, or commissioners, or if either board fail, in any respect, to do
on its part what should be done towards the work, the remedy by man-
damus shall lie before the circuit court of the other county, and the
circuit court shall compel the board of supervisors complained of to
do what ought to be done in the matter. If it appears from the report
of the commissioners of either county that it would not be equitable for
the two counties to bear the expenses of said bridge equally, the board
of supervisors of said counties may agree upon an equitable division of
such expense. If, however, the said boards cannot agree, the board of
supervisors of either county may take an appeal of right from the action
of the board of the other county to the circuit court of said last-named
county, which circuit court shall hear evidence and determine, first,
whether the bridge is needed; and, secondly, in what manner the ex-
pense thereof should be divided between the counties: provided, that
any proceedings heretofore commenced in any county court looking to
the establishment of a bridge between two counties shall be proceeded
with by the boards of supervisors of the respective counties, subject to
right of appeal or mandamus as herein set forth.

26. The board of supervisors of any county may direct the superin-
tendent of roads to receive proposals for making or improving the whole,
or any part of any road therein.

The commissioner, or superintendent of roads, before receiving pro-
posals for any work, shall publish notice in a county newspaper, or in
some newspaper having circulation therein, for four successive wecks,
or at the front door of the courthouse, on some court day, and at three
or more public places in the neighborhood where the work is to be done,
that proposals for such work will be received in writing at some subse-
quent meeting of the board of supervisors, the date of which mecting
shall be mentioned in the notice. The notice shall describe the work
to be done, state out of what fiscal year’s levy it is to be paid for, and
require such specifications to be made in the proposals as the board of
supervisors may determine on.

The proposals received under the preceding section shall be returned
to the board of supervisors, which shall determine whether any, and if
any, which of said proposals shall be accepted, the board shall direct the
superintendent of roads, the commissioners, or one of them, to reduce
to writing a contract between the county or counties and such person.

27%. The superintendent of roads, the commissioners, or onc of them,
shall report to the board of supervisors every such contract signed by
the person with whom it is made, and after an order shall be made by
the said board or boards ratifying such contract, the same shall be
binding upon the contractor and the county or counties, so soon as the
contractor gives bond, with sufficient sureties, to be approved by the
board, and in a penalty at least double the amount which he is to re-
ceive under the contract, payable to the county or countics, with con-
dition for the faithful performance of such contract. Such bond shall
be taken by the superintendent of roads, the commissioners, or one of
them, and returned to the clerk of the board. If approved by the supcr-
visors, the fact shall be entered of record, and the bond and contract
shall be filed in the clerk’s office.

28. The money which the contractor may be entitled to receive under
such contract, shall be so levied for as to be paid at the time specified
in the contract.

29. The board of supervisors may macadamize such roads, or so much
thereof as they shall deem necessary, the cost of which shall be paid out
of the general road fund. The supervisor of any magisterial district
may, with the approval of the board of supervisors, macadamize any
road in his district, or so much thereof as he shall deem necessary, the
cost of which shall be paid out of the special road fund levied and col-
lected in his said magisterial district, but no road shall be macadamized
at the cost of any magisterial district, except with the approval of the
supervisor of said magisterial district.

30. No person shall use any county bridge as a wharf from which to
load or unload any voesel or boat, nor as a place of deposit for any prop-
erty, nor for any other purpose except for crossing. Nor shall the master
or owner of any vessel make fast the same to, or lay the same alongside
such bridge. Any person violating this section shall be fined not less
than five nor more than twenty dollars, to the use of the county roads of
the county in which the offence was committed.

31. Any person owning land upon’a water course may erect a wharf
on the same, or pier or bulkhead, in such water course opposite his
land: provided, navigation be not obstructed, nor the private rights of
any person be otherwise injured thereby. But- the circuit court of the
county in which such wharf, pier, or bulkhead is, after causing ten days’
notice to be given to the owner thereof, of its intention to consider the
subject, if it be satisfied that such wharf, pier, or bulkhead obstructs the
navigation of the water course, or so encroaches on any public landing
as to prevent the free use thereof, may abate the same.

Any person desiring the privilege of erecting a wharf at or on any
county landing may, after giving notice of his intention by advertising
such notice at some public place near the landing, and also at the front
door of the courthouse of such county, on the first day of a term of the
court of said county, present to the court at its next term a petition for
such privilege. The court may determine the same, and may, in its dis-
cretion, grant such privilege and fix such rates and charges upon such
conditions and limitations as to it may seem fit. But the court, at any
subsequent term, may, if it think proper, revoke such privilege, or alter
such conditions or limitations, or regulate the rates and charges. This
section shall not be construed to authorize a circuit court of the county to
grant the privilege of erecting a wharf within a city.

32. A circuit court of the county may grant authority to any person to
construct or build a tram road, not exceeding six feet in width, along any
of its roads: provided, it does not unnecessarily interfere with public
travel along such roads, or the proprietary rights of parties along the line
of the tram road; and if there be such interference, either the parties
owning the soil or the party building or proposing to build such tram-
road, may apply to the circuit court of the county in which the real estate
lics, to appoint not less than three nor more than five viewers, to examine
the premises, and particularly report the facts and circumstances useful
to enable the court to determine whether or not there will be an inter-
ference with the public travel, or with the rights and interests of the
owner of the soil, and what compensation, if any, is due him for such
interference. Upon the report of the viewers, the court shall direct the
clerk to post at the front door of the courthouse a notice summoning all
parties interested to appear and show cause against the same; and if it
appear that the said notice has been so posted for twenty days before the
commencement of the term at which the report is to be passed upon, such
action and proceedings shall be had and order made, as prescribed in sec-
tions four, five, and six of this act.

33. Whenever any turnpike company may have abandonedi its road, or
a part thereof, the board of supervsors of the county in which such road
lies shall take charge of the same, and cause it to be worked and kept in
good order in the same manner as the public roads in such county, if
deemed advisable to do so. , ;

34. The board of supervisors shall have power to cause process to issue
and eomipel the attendance of witnesses and other parties. The clerk of
each board of supervisors shall receive for the duties to be performed by
him under the provisions of this act compensation to be fixed and allowed
te him by the said board, not to exceed fifty dollars per annum, the same
to be paid out of the tax levied under section eleven of this act.

35. All statutes heretofore enacted declaring certain streams and rivers
highways, and providing for removing obstructions therefrom, and from
other streams, shall continue in force.

36. Bonds may be issued by any county of this State for the purpose of
macadamizing or otherwise permanently improving the public roads of
said county, or building bridges therein, upon the conditions hereinafter
provided. The circuit court of any county may, upon the petition of a
majority of the board of supervisors of said county, make an order re-
quiring the judges of election, al the next general election of State,
county, or district officers, or at any other time, not less than thirty days
from the date of said order, which shall be designated therein, to open a
poll and take the sense of the qualified voters on the question, whether
the board of supervisors shall issue bonds for the said purposes, or any of
them, the location, length and width of such road or bridge as is pro-
posed. to be macadamized or permanently improved or built to be named
and described in the order. The said order shall state the maximum
amount of bonds proposed to be issued, which shall in mo case exceed an
amount, the interest upon which, at the rate authorized by the board of
supervisors of any county, shall require the imposition of an annual tax
in excess of twenty cents on the one hundred dollars.

37. The regular election officers of said county, at the time designated
in the order authorizing the vote, shall open polls at the various voting
places in the said county, and shall conduct such election, and close the
polls in such manner as is provided by law in other elections; and at said
election each qualified voter who shall approve such issue of bonds shall
deposit a ticket or ballot, on which shall be written or printed the words,
“For bond issue,” and each qualified voter who shall oppose such issue of
bonds shall deposit a ticket or ballot whereon shall be written or printed,
“Against bond issue.” The judges of election at the several voting places
shall, immediately after the closing of the polls at each of said places,
count the ballots deposited, and shall, within two days after said election,
make return thereof, as is provided: in other elections: provided, that no
voter shall be allowed to vote in said election who resides and is a voter
in a town exempt from road! tax.

38. The commissioners of elections of said county shall, within two
days after the judges of election have made return of the poll-books and
hallots as aforesaid, meet at the office of saidi clerk, and, having taken an
oath before him faithfully to discharge their duty, canvass the returns,
and certify the result thereof to the said circuit court.

39. If it shall appear, by the report of the commissioners, that three-
fifths of the qualified voters of the county voting upon the question are in
favor of issuing the bonds for the purpose aforesaid, and that said three-
fifths includes a majority of the freeholders voting at such elections and
a majority of the registered voters of the county, and the ballots cast by
freeholders in such election shall be deposited in a separate box, the cir-
cuit court shall, at its next term, enter of record an order requiring the
supervisors of the. county to proceed at their next meeting to carry out
the wishes of the voters as expressed at said election.

40. Whenever the sense of the qualified voters of any county shall be
taken on the question, whether the board of supervisors shall issue bonds
for the purpose aforesaid, the said election and returns shall be subject to
the inquiry, determination, and judgment of the circuit court of the
county in which such election was held, upon the written complaint of
fifteen, or more of the qualified voters of such county, of an undue election
or false return, two of whom shall take an oath that the facts set forth in
such complaint are true, to the best of their knowledge and belief; and
the court shall, in judging of such election and returns, proceed upon the
merits thereof, and determine concerning the same according to the Con-
stitution and laws of this State; and such complaint shall not be valid
unless it shall have been, filed within thirty days after the said election in
the clerk’s office of the said circuit court. The board of supervisors shall
be made a defendant by summons or notice to its chairman, of the filing
of the complaint, and after service of such summons or notice on the
chairman of the board of supervisors, either party, upon reasonable notice
to the other, shall be at liberty to take depositions to sustain or invalidate
such election. Service of notice on any three of the complainants shall
be sufficient. The court shall proceed at its next term after service of
such summons or notice to determine the contest without a jury, on the
evidence, oral or written, unless good: cause be shown for a continuance,
and shall make a proper record of its judgment. If the judgment be that
the election is a valid one, in favor of issuing bonds, the court shall make
an order in conformity with the preceding section.

41. The board of supervisors, at their next meeting, or as soon there-
after as practicable, shall determine what amount of bonds, not exceed-
ing the maximum aforesaid, shall be issued, and shall enter of record the
amount so determined; they shall have power to appoint an agent, or
agents, to negotiate a loan, or loans, or to sell said bonds: provided, that
said bonds shall be paid for in lawful money, and shall not be sold at less
than their par value. When such a loan has been negotiated, or bonds
sold, the board of supervisors shall issue said bonds, which may be either
registered or with coupons attached, as said board of supervisors may pre-
scribe; shall be signed by the chairman of the said board of supervisors,
and countersigned by the clerk thereof; shall be in denominations of one
hundred dollars, or some multiple thereof; shall bear interest at a rate
not exceeding six per centum per annum, payable annually at the office
of the treasurer of said county, and shall be payable not exceeding thirty
years -from the date thereof at said office, but may, in the discretion of
said board, be redeemable at such time or times, or after such period or
periods, as the said board may prescribe. The board shall deliver them
to the treasurer of its county, who shall deliver said bonds upon the pay-
ment of the price thereof. The said treasurer and his-sureties shall be
liable for the amount received for said bonds as though it were a county
levy, and said fund shall be expended for the purposes for which it was
intended, and none other. ‘The said treasurer shall receive, as compensa-
tion for his services hereunder, a commission of one-fourth of one per
centum on the amount thus coming into his hands.
42. After issuing such bonds, or any of them, when the next levy is
made, or tax imposed in said county, a tax shall be levied on all prop-
erty liable to State tax in such county to pay the interest on the bonds
so issued, and to create a sinking fund to redeem the principal thereof
as the board of supervisors may deem necessary or proper, and from
year to year, said levy or assessment shall be made until the debt and
interest are paid, which levy shall not exceed twenty cents on the hun-
dred dollars of taxable property within the said county; the amount
levied for and set apart as a sinking fund, and the interest accruing
thereon, shall be used for the payment of the principal of said bonds,
and for no other purpose; the board of supervisors is hereby authorized
and empowered to apply any part, or all of said sinking fund, to the
payment or purchase of any of said bonds, at any time, and all bonds
so paid off or purchased by said board of supervisors shall be imme-
diately canceled, and shall not be re-issued, and the board of supervisors
are authorized and empowered to lend out, upon real estate security, or
to deposit in bank at interest, all accumulations of money to the credit
of said sinking fund: provided, as aforesaid, and to collect and re-invest
the same, and the interest accruing thereon from time to time, so often
as may be necessary or expedient, until said bonds become subject to
call: provided, that no moncy to the credit of said sinking fund shall be
loaned out, deposited, or invested by said board of supervisors, unless
said loan, deposit, or investment shall be first approved by the circuit
court of such county, or the judge thereof in vacation, which approval
shall be entered of record in the order book of the said court.

43. Any county wishing to redeem any of its outstanding bonds,
which are subject to call, issued under the provisions of this act, may,
through its proper officer, give notice of its readiness to do so, to the
holder in person, or by publication thereof. once a week for two succes-
sive weeks in a newspaper published in said county, or nearest thereto.
It shall be sufficient in the notice to give the number and amount of
cach bond and fix a day for its presentation for payment, which shall
not be less than ten days from the date of personal service of the notice,
or the completion of the publication thereof, as the case may be. If
the bond be not presented on the day fixed for its redemption, interest
thereon shall cease from that day.

The provisions of this act, so far as the same are inconsistent with
special road laws for particular counties, shall not be construed as re-
pealing or altering such special laws or as applying to such counties;
hut so far as the provisions of this act are not inconsistent with such
~pecial laws, they shall apply in such counties.

45. If anv act or appointment required by this act cannot be done
or made at the time herein preseribed. it shall he done as soon thereafter
as practicable; and in case of an appointment, the term shall commence
thirty days after the appointment.

46. Chapter forty-three of the Code of Virginia and all acts amenda-
tory thereto aré hereby repealed.