CHAP. 762.--An ACT to incorporate the Onancock and Drummondtown electric railway, light and power company.

1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of Virginia, That James H. Fletcher, junior, Spencer F. Rogers, Otho L. Parker, Robert L. Hopkins, Stewart K. Powell, John P. L. Hopkins, Edward E. Miles, John S. Parsons, Thomas S. Hopkins, Benjamin T. Gunter, Thomas W. Blackstone, and John C. Justis, and such other persons as may be associated with them, and their successors, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name of the Onancock and Drummondtown electric railway, light, and power company.

2. The capital stock of the said company shall not be less than ten thousand dollars, nor more than fifty thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.

3. The said company shall have power and authority to construct, equip, maintain, and operate a railroad in the county of Accomac, in the state of Virginia, from a point in the town of Onancock, at or near the present steamboat wharf, along the line of Market street, in an easterly direction to the corporate limits of said town; thence along the county road of said county, or by some route parallel thereto, to the Tasley station on the line of the New York, Philadelphia, and Norfolk railroad; thence continuing along said county road, or by some route parallel thereto, to the village of Drummondtown; thence through said village of Drummondtown to James S. Melson's store; and thence along the seaside county road, or by some route parallel thereto, to James R. Lewis' store at the foot of Bayly's Neck road.

4. The said company shall also have power and authority to erect, establish, maintain, and operate in said town of Onancock, or elsewhere in said county of Accomac, an electric plant for the generation of electricity, and the supply of the electric current, for its own use and for sale to all or any persons, parties, or corporations, desiring to use the same for heat, light, or power or any and all other uses to which the electric current may now, or at any time hereafter, be applied or applicable, and may manufacture, use and sell, distribute, and furnish the same for all said purposes to all and any persons, parties, and corporations desiring to use the same, upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the contracting parties; and may, with the consent of the council of said town of Onancock, or the board of supervisors of said county of Accomac, use the streets of said town, or the highways of said county, for erecting its poles or posts and stringing wires thereon, or for conducting pipes or conduits thereunder and placing their wires therein.

5. Before said company shall use the streets of said town of Onancock, or the highways of said county of Accomac, for the purpose of constructing its roads, or for erecting its poles or posts and stringing wires thereon, or for conducting its pipes and conduits thereunder and placing the wires therein, it shall first obtain the consent of the council of said town and of the board of supervisors of said county: provided, however, that no part of any public highway shall be occupied without the consent of the landowner be first acquired, by purchase or otherwise.

6. The said company shall have the power and authority to begin the construction of the said railroad at any point along its proposed route, and may use and operate the same from the time it shall have been commenced.

7. It shall be lawful for the said company to transport passengers,
freight, baggage and the mails of the United States, and collect fare and tolls therefor, and use in the propulsion of cars on its road, either horses, mules, steam, or electricity as a power, and, in general, have all such other powers, privileges, rights, and franchises that may be necessary for the accomplishment of the purposes of its incorporation which are conferred by the laws of Virginia upon works of internal improvement.

8. The said company shall have power to acquire by purchase, lease, or condemnation according to law, all lands required for a right of way for its railroad, and for stations, depots, power-house, and terminal facilities, for its operation and for the construction, equipment, maintenance and operation of its said electric plant, and may also acquire, purchase, accept, and hold such other property, real, personal, or mixed, as may be necessary or useful for the purposes of its business; and may borrow money for its use, issue bonds and notes therefor, and secure such bonds and notes by deed or deeds of trust or mortgage or mortgages on any part or all of its property or franchise.

9. The said company shall have power to cross any other railroad upon the terms and in the manner prescribed by the general law for one work of internal improvement crossing another; and with the consent of the council of said town of Onancock and the board of supervisors of the said county of Accomac, respectively, may use any public streets of the said town, or any public roads in said county along its route not heretofore designated in this act.

10. And the said company, in addition to its other rights and privileges shall have the power and authority to establish, construct, operate, and maintain a plant, works, machinery, and other necessary fixtures and appliances for the manufacture of artificial ice, on any plan or by any process it may approve, the same to be located in the said town of Onancock, or at any place in the said county of Accomac which it may determine upon, and to that end it may buy, sell, and deal in all materials necessary for the manufacture of artificial ice; may use and employ steam, water, or electric power, and may buy, sell, and distribute ice to persons and corporations who may care to take it, and upon such terms as may be agreed upon between the contracting parties.

11. The officers of said company shall consist of a president, vicepresident, secretary and treasurer, and a board of five directors, but that number may be increased from time to time by the stockholders. The said board shall have power to establish and make such rules and regulations and by-laws as they may deem proper or desirable for the management and control of the affairs and business of the said company.

12. The incorporators herein named, or two-thirds of them, may, at any time and place which they may deem proper, and with or without a previous advertisement thereof, proceed to receive subscriptions to the stock of the said company; which subscriptions may be paid in cash, real or personal property, labor, options or rights of way, at such valuation as may be determined upon by the incorporators and the subscriber; and when the minimum amount of said stock shall have been subscribed, such subscribers may organize and shall be authorized to proceed with the construction of the works herein authorized and empowered to said company.

13. The said company shall commence the construction of said railroad within three years and complete the same within five years from the passage of this act.

14. All taxes due by the said company shall be paid in lawful money of the United States.

15. This act shall take effect from its passage.