Quorum of directors. Branches. Representation of bondholders 7. A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum. 8. The said company may and shall have full power and authority to locate, construct, and maintain any branch railroad or railroads, not exceeding twenty miles in length, to any coal or timber lands owned by the said company. 9. The stockholders of the said company may admit the in stockholders' bondholders under any mortgage authorized by the company, to representation in the meetings of the stockholders. meeting. Exemption from taxation. Commencement and completion of road. Company subject to code of West Virginia. Act may be amended, but not so as to affect rights of creditors or stockholders. 10. The property of the said company shall be exempt from taxation until its net revenues may pay ten per cent upon its capital stock. 11. The said company shall commence work upon its line within six months from the completion of the Chesapeake and Ohio railroad, and shall complete its entire line within three years thereafter. 12. This charter shall be subject to chapters fifty-two and fifty-three of the code of West Virginia, so far as the provisions of the same are applicable thereto, and consistent with this act. 13. The legislature reserves the right to alter or amend this act; but such alteration or amendment shall not affect the right of the creditors of the corporation to have the property and assets thereof applied in discharge of their respective claims, or of the stockholders to have the surplus which may remain after providing for the debts and liabilities of the company, distributed among themselves, according to their respective interests. Former rights renewed. CHAPTER 38.-An ACT for the extension of the Pittsburgh, Passed February 25, 1870. Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia : 1. That all the rights, privileges and franchises heretofore granted by the legislature of West Virginia, to the Monon mer legislation V. & C. R. R. Co. Authority to con gahela Valley, and the Greenbrier and Tygart's Valley Rail- Benefits of forroad, are hereby revived and re-enacted, and the benefits transferred to P. thereof transferred to the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad Company, or so much thereof as the said company may see proper to avail themselves; excepting such parts of said acts as may come in opposition to the express meaning of this act. The assent of the state of West Virginia is hereby given and privilege granted to the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad Company, of Pennsylvania, (formerly known as the Monongahela Valley Railroad struct a rail road. Company,) to locate, construct and maintain a continuous line of railroad by the most practicable route, across the state Route of road. of West Virginia, from a point at or near the Monongahela river, where the boundary line of Pennsylvania and West Virginia crosses the said river; thence up the valley and tributaries of the same, by the shortest and most practicable course, through the county of Monongalia, and by the most practicable route, crossing the line of this state to some point on the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad, at or between Salem and Newbern. ized to open sub scription books. lands. 2. The Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad Com- Company authorpany, (whose directors are B. F. Jones, Joseph Walton, Geo. Black, H. B. Hays, J. C. Risher, Joseph Dilworth, Dr. Patton, and T. W. Briggs,) shall have power, and they are hereby authorized to associate themselves with citizens of West Virginia, in a corporate capacity, open books at different places along the line of the proposed route of said railroad, for the purpose of obtaining subscriptions to the capital stock of said company; and payment may be made for the whole or any part of such subscription, either in land Subscription in or other property, at such prices and valuation as may be agreed upon by those securing such subscription; and the said company may accept and receive from any person or persons voluntary donations of any land or other property, Donations. given in aid of the location, construction and equipment of the said road. Real estate may be conveyed to said company Authority to hold for the purpose aforesaid, by proper deeds of conveyance, and the same may be disposed of for the lawful purpose of the company, by proper deeds of conveyance, executed by the president thereof upon the order of the majority of the directors of said company, at a meeting of their board. real estate. Authority to enter on lands to locate road. by company may parties cannot agree on value. On filing descrip bond, in clerk's may enter on lands. 3. For the purpose of laying out and locating their said railroad, the president and directors of said company, with their engineers and agents, shall have full power and authority to enter upon and pass through and over any lands on the contemplated route, and to occupy the same so long as may be necessary for locating their said road, depots, warehouses, and stations; but shall not leave open any fences, or enclosures on any land, or injure the property of the owner or occupier without his or her consent, or invade the dwellinghouse of any person, or within the space of sixty feet thereof, How land needed without the consent of the owner or occupier. And when the be condemned, if owners of land, and the officers and agents of said company cannot agree upon the value of such lands as the said company may deem necessary to use and occupy for their railway depots, ware-houses and stations, the said company may have and hold the said lands for the sole use and benefit thereof, in the following manner, to-wit: The said company shall make tion of land, and out a particular description of the lands desired, in writing, office, company and file it in the clerk's office of the circuit court of the county in which said lands are located, stating therein the sum they propose to pay therefor, and also file therewith, bond with security, to the satisfaction of the judge of said court, conditioned to pay all that may be recovered against them as hereinafter provided; and thereupon they may enter upon and take possession of said lands, and proceed at once to operate and use the same for the purpose designated in said description; but in no case shall the amount of land for the track of said road exceed sixty feet in width, excepting in cases of cuts and fills, when the width may be one hundred and thirty feet; and the party or his agent, owning the said land, may file with the said clerk of his court, his or her claim therefor, in which shall be stated the sum of money he or she may demand for said land; and the said court shall appoint five disinterested persons for the purpose of ascertaining a just compensation therefor, any three of whom may act; but in no case shall said court appoint for such purpose any person or persons through whose lands said road is to pass. And the sheriff, after said appointment is made, shall summon the said viewers to meet on the lands at such time as he may appoint, within thirty days after such appointment is made by the court, giving ten days notice to the parties interested; and the sheriff shall administer an oath to the viewers, which he is hereby authorized to do, that they, and each of them, Width of land taken. Viewers. Their meeting and oath. Viewers' report. port. will fairly, impartially and honestly assess, fix and determine the amount said company shall pay for said land, and return their report, under their hands and seals, to the clerk of the circuit court of the county, setting forth the amount, if any, to be paid by said company, which report shall be certified Judgment on reby the sheriff; and on the first day of the next term of the court, the judge thereof shall direct judgment to be entered on said report, if no exceptions be taken and filed thereto by either party; but if exceptions be taken and filed thereto, the court shall submit the matter in dispute to a jury of twelve men, selected according to law, who shall try the same as any port to be tried other cause in said court, unless the matter in dispute be a question or questions of law, when the judge shall decide between the parties. The judge shall have power to determine which party shall pay the costs of such proceedings, if Costs of proceed、more damages are given by the jury than the viewers, but in case they give the same damages, then the party filing the exceptions shall pay the costs, and in case they give less damages, then the party failing shall pay the costs. Exceptions to re by jury. ings. tent herewith company. 4. Such parts of the code of West Virginia, or of any act Laws inconsisor acts, as may be inconsistent or in conflict with this act, or not to apply to any of its provisions, shall be held not to apply to said company, so far as the same may affect the rights, powers and privileges granted by this act; provided, however, that for all other purposes the same shall have the same force and effect as if this act had never been passed; and said company shall have the right and powers to sue and be sued in any of the Suits by and courts of this state, to charge and collect tolls on freight and pany. passengers on the same as is allowed and done by the most Tolls. favored railroads within this state, always being subject to the general provisions of chapters forty-two and fifty-two, of Company subject the code of West Virginia, of eighteen hundred and sixty-nine, relating to railroad companies and corporations. against com to code. taxation. ¡ 5. The said company, which shall be known by the name and style of the Pittsburgh, Virginia and Charleston Railroad Company, shall be exempt from the imposition of any Exemption from tax or burthen whatever, within this state, until the net earnings exceed ten per cent upon the capital stock of said company. 6. The legislature reserves the right to alter or amend, but Act amendable. such alteration or amendment shall not affect or impair the to affect rights of creditors or stockholders. Amendment not right of the creditors of said company to have the property and assets applied in discharge of their respective claims, nor of the stockholders to have the surplus which may remain, after providing for the debts and liabilities of the company, distributed among themselves according to their respective interests. Commencement and completion of road. 7. The said company shall be required to commence the construction of the said railroad within three years from the passage of this act, and complete the same within ten years from the time of commencement. CHAPTER 39.-An ACT to authorize the Shenandoah Valley Passed February 25, 1870. WHEREAS an act has passed the general assembly of Virassembly recited. ginia, entitled "An act to incorporate the Shenandoah Valley Act of Virginia Books of subscription. Railroad Company," in the following words and figures: "An act to incorporate the Shenandoah Valley Railroad Company"; passed February 23rd, 1867. "Be it enacted by the General Assembly: "1. That it shall be lawful to open books of subscription in Harrisonburg, in the county of Rockingham, under the direction of S. A. Coffman, Henry Fower, and A. M. Newman, or any two of them; in Luray, in the county of Page, under the direction of Peter B. Borst, William Milnes, and Benjamin F. Grayson, or any two of them; in Front Royal, in the county of Warren, under the direction of William M. Buck, Robert Turner, and Thomas N. Ashby, or any two of them; in Winchester, in the county of Frederick, under the direction of Lloyd Logan, Henry M. Brent, and Philip Williams, or any two of them; in Berryville, in the county of Clark, under the direction of David H. McGuire, William M. Nelson, and David Meade, or any two of them; in Staunton, in the county of Augusta, under the direction of Nicholas K. Trout, Michael T. Harman, and George Bayler, or i |