way Company shall possess and enjoy all the properties, rights, franchises and privileges belonging and heretofore granted to the said Waco and Northwestern Railroad Company.

SEC. 2. This act of consolidation is passed, and shall become operative, on condition that said consolidated road shall not, in either of its branches, be sold, leased or rented to, or consolidated with, any other parallel, competing or converging railroad; and that said company shall not purchase, own or control, any such parallel, competing or converging road; and upon the still further condition, that the portion of said Northwestern railroad not yet built, if built at all by said company, shall be constructed and put in operation within the time required by the charter of said road; and should the general line of the portion of said road not yet built pass within five miles of any established county seat, then said road shall run to said county seat, and said company shall establish and keep a depot for freight and passengers within onehalf mile of the business portion of said town, on condition that the right of way through said town, and sufficient ground, not less than fifteen acres, for switches, turnouts, and such buildings as may be necessary and proper, shall be furnished to said company free of charge; provided, that said company shall not be compelled to construct said road within one-half mile of any county seat where, from natural obstacles, it is impracticable to do so; but in such case said road shall run, and a depot be established, as near said town as such natural obstacles will admit; and should the line of said road be definitely located through any county before the permanent location of the county seat thereof, then it shall not be necessary for said road to be so varied from its line as to run within one-half mile of said town.

SEC. 3. This act shall take effect and become operative upon the acceptance by said company of the conditions herein stated.

Approved May 24th, 1873.

CHAPTER CCVIII.

An Act to incorporate the Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the following named persons, to wit, J. M. Eddy, C. L. Frost, M. H. Gable, D. C. Adams, Daniel Stewart, John A. McCoy, Howard Schuyler, W. W. H. Lawrence, W. R. Shannon, W. A. Huffman, J. E. Ellis, J. P. Smith, E. M. Daggett, James Crutcher, Giles S. Boggess, John B. Bowman, M. B. Lloyd, W. C. Hite and J. H. Jones, be and they are hereby incorporated a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of the "Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company;" under which name they shall have succession for the term of sixty years from and after the passage of this act, with the right to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with; to have and to hold, purchase and convey, both real and personal property; to use a common seal, and to ordain and establish a code of by-laws, rules and regulations for the government of said company and its officers, agents and employés, and to do and perform such other acts and things as may become necessary and proper to be done for the best interest of said company, and not in violation of the Constitution and laws of this State.

SEC. 2. That the capital stock of the said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company shall be ten million dollars, divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.

SEC. 3. That each share of capital stock shall be entitled to one vote in all elections ordered or directed by said company, whether for the election of officers, or any other purpose.

SEC. 4. That the persons named in the first section of this act, or their duly authorized agents or attorneys, shall, within ninety days after the passage of this act, meet at Fort Worth, Texas, and at said meeting shall open books for subscription to the capital stock of said company, and when two hundred and fifty thousand dollars have been bona fide subscribed, and five per cent. actually paid thereon, the stockholders paying the same, or their properly authorized agents, may proceed to the

election of a board of directors, to consist of not less than nine persons, which said board of directors shall elect from their number a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer, and such other officers as the by-laws of the company may require. When the organization has been completed as herein required, it shall be the duty of the president and secretary of said company to send a certified copy of the proceedings of the meeting of the persons incorporated by this act, and the meeting of the stockholders of said company, to the secretary of State of the State of Texas, to be filed in the archives of said office; and when the provisions of this act have been complied with, notice thereof shall be given by publication in the official journal, published in the city of Austin, in the State of Texas, and in some newspaper published in the city of Denver, in the Territory of Colorado. The persons named in the first section of this act shall give thirty days' notice, by publication in such papers as they may select, as to the time and place of their first meeting.

SEC. 5. Stock books may continue to be opened for subscription to the capital stock of said company, under such terms and conditions as the board of directors may determine; provided, always, that five per cent. on the amount subscribed shall be actually paid at the time of subscription.

SEC. 6. The said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company is hereby authorized and fully empowered to survey, locate, build, equip, own, control, malage, operate, and maintain a railway and telegraph line from some suitable point at or near Fort Worth, Tarrant county, Texas, forming a junction at said point with the Texas and Pacific Railway; thence in a northwesterly direction, on the most practicable route through the State of Texas, in the direction of Denver City, Colorado, having in view the route best calculated to develop the mineral region of Northwestern Texas.

SEC. 7. That the gauge of said railway shall be the same as that adopted by the Texas and Pacific Railway of Texas, or the gauge adopted by the narrow gauge rail road now being constructed south from the city of Den ver, in the Territory of Colorado.

SEC. 8. That the right of way, to be to the extent of two hundred feet in width, is hereby granted to said railway company, through the public lands of Texas, and

also the right to take and use, in the construction of said road, any timber or other material used in the construction of railways, found and lying upon any of the public lands of this State.

SEC. 9. That the rights, powers and authority to condemn private property, for the use and benefit of said road, shall be the same as heretofore granted to the Texas and Pacific Railway Company by the Legislature of

Texas.

SEC. 10. That for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway, there be and hereby is granted to the said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company sixteen sections of land, of six hundred and forty acres each, for each and every mile of said railway that may be completed and put in successful operation; provided, that should a less gauge than four feet eight and one-half inches be adopted, then only twelve sections per mile shall be granted by the State to said company.

SEC. 11. Whenever the said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company shall have completed the first section of twenty-five miles of their road, and the same has been inspected, as required by law, by a skillful enginear to be appointed by the Governor, should there be no State engineer, who shall report on oath whether said section has been completed in a good, substantial manner as a first class railroad, and if the report of the inspector is favorable, the Governor of the State of Texas shall immediately notify the Commissioner of the General Land Office to issue to said company the land certificates, of six hundred and forty acres each, for the quantity of lands said company may be entitled to receive under this act, for the said twenty-five miles of road thus completed; said company to designate and cause said land to be surveyed in the manner now prescribed by general law, in alternate sections; that is to say, said company shall cause to be surveyed two sections of land for each certificate to which it may be entitled; and upon the return of field notes and maps of surveys made by virtue of said land certificates, in accordance with law, the Commissioner of the General Land Office, who shall proceed to number the sections so surveyed, and shall issue patents thereon, conveying the odd sections to the company; provided, that in no case shall the State be in any way

liable for deficiency of vacant domain. And the lands hereby granted shall be alienated by said company as follows, to-wit: one-fourth in eight years, one-fourth in twelve years, one fourth in sixteen years, and the remaining fourth in twenty years from the date of the certificates, respectively, so that the whole of said lands shall pass out of the hands of said company in twenty years from the date of said certificates; and the lands hereby granted shall not be sold to any other corporation, except so far as may be necessary for the proper use and conducting the business of such corporation; nor shall said lands be sold to any person, firm or company, in trust for said railroad company, or to any 'firm or company of which any officer or stockholder of said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company is a member.

SEC. 12. The first section of twenty-five miles of said road shall be completed within three years from the passage of this act, and an additional section of thirty miles every two years thereafter, until completed through the State.

SEC. 13. The said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company is hereby authorized and empowered to issue its first mortgage bonds to the extent of sixteen thousand dollars per mile of road within the State of Texas; and may, in such manner as the board of directors shall deem best for the interest of the company in the prosecution of said railroad, hypothecate the bonds, stock, lands, or other property of the company, for the purpose of raising money in aid of the building of said road, to an extent not greater than ten thousand dollars per mile in addition to the first mortgage bonds aforesaid. SEC. 14. Said Fort Worth and Denver City Railway Company shall not lease, rent or sell its road, or sell its franchises to, or purchase, or be merged in, or consolidated with any other parallel, connecting, or competing line of railroad in this State; and a violation of the provisions of this section shall forfeit all the charter rights and privileges of said company. Whenever the direct line of said road passes within five miles of the county seat of any county through which it may be constructed, said road shall run to said town, and said company shall construct and maintain a depot for freight and passengers within one-half mile of the business portion of said town; provided, the citizens or corporate authorities of such town