Charter amended. Annual election of officers. When judges of election shall meet. Commissioners empowered to establish fire limits. License tax on corporations buying and selling stocks, etc. CHAPTER 297. An act to amend the charter of the town of Wilson. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: Section 1. That chapter three hundred and eighty-seven, private laws of eighteen hundred and ninety-three, be amended as follows: That section four be struck out and insert in lieu thereof the words: "There shall, on the first Monday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, and annually thereafter, be elected by the qualified voters of said town a mayor, chief of police and five commissioners for said town, who shall hold their office until their successors are elected. One of the said commissioners shall be chosen by the voters of each ward in said town. The mayor and the chief of police shall be voted for in each ward and the person receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected. The commissioners shall reside in the ward for which they are elected, and shall receive no compensation for their services." Sec. 2. That section ten be amended by adding at the end thereof the words: "And the judges of election shall meet at two o'clock p. m. on the day next after the election at the mayor's office and canvass the vote cast for mayor and chief of police. and certify the same to the clerk of the town, and the persons receiving the highest number of votes for the offices of mayor and chief of police shall be declared elected and the said clerk shall notify the persons thereof." Sec. 3. That section thirteen be amended by striking out in line two the word “mayor,” and in line three the word “constable," and by adding thereof [thereto] the following: "The board of commissioners shall have power to establish fire limits within said town, within which it shall not be lawful for any person to erect or build any wooden house, make any wooden additions to any building or cover any building with any other material than metal or slate. They may prohibit wooden buildings from being removed from one place to another within the same, under such penalties as the board of commissioners may establish." Sec. 4. That section thirty-three be amended by adding thereto the following: (10) That any persous or corporation engaged in the business of buying or selling stocks, provisions, cotton or grain for future delivery, or any agent of such person or corporation having an office in the town of Wilson shall before opening such office, soliciting business or accepting orders pay an annual license tax of one thousand dollars. Sec. 5. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification. Ratified the 6th day of March, A. D. 1899. CHAPTER 298. An act to authorize the town of Franklin, in Macon county, to issue bonds and levy special tax. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: authorized to Section 1. That for the purposes of improving the streets of Commissioners the town of Franklin, in Macon county, and for such other im- issue bonde. provements as may be deemed necessary by the mayor and board of commissioners of said town, Macon county, the commissioners of said town are hereby authorized and empowered to issue bonds of the [said town] to an amount not exceeding five thousand dollars, of such denominations as the board of aldermen or town commissioners may deem advisable, bearing interest from date thereof, not to exceed the rate [of] six per centum per an- Interest. num, with interest coupons attached, payable yearly, at such times and at such places as may be deemed advisable by said board of commissioners, said bonds to be of such form and tenor and transferable in such way, and the principal thereof payable or redeemable at such time or times, not exceeding ten years from the date thereof, and at such places, as said board may determine. Said bonds shall be signed by the mayor and commis- Bonds, how signed. sioners of said town. Sec. 2. That for the purpose of providing for the payment of the interest accruing on and the principal at maturity of such bonds as may be issued under this act, the board of commission ers of said town of Franklin are authorized annually and at the time of levying other town taxes to levy and lay a special tax on all property within the corporate limits of said town subject to taxation, and on all taxable polls not exceeding thirty cents on the one hundred dollars worth of property, and not exceeding ninety cents on the poll, said tax to be strictly applied for the purposes herein mentioned. So much of all the taxes levied and collected in the corporate limits of said town under this act as may not be required to pay the interest on said bonds as the same falls due, and can not or may not be applied to the purchase or discharge of the bonds for which said taxes are levied and collected, shall be invested so as to secure the payment at maturity of the principal of said bonds; and to insure the due investment of the amounts collected from year to year in excess of that required to pay the said interest, the board of town commissioners shall cause the said excess to be turned over to the treasurer of said town for a sinking fund. It shall be the duty of the treasurer, under such general rules and regulations as said board of town commissioners may from time to time prescribe, to make investments of so much of the taxes collected and turned PRIV-53 Annual tax may be levied to provide sinking fund. Tax shall be applied for no other purpose. Excess shall be turned over to sinking fund. Bond of treas urer. Question of bonds shall be submitted to voters. Form of ballots. over to him as aforesaid as shall be applicable as aforesaid to the payment of the principal of said bonds issued under this act; and to do or perform all such other services in connection with said bonds as said board may prescribe. Said treasurer shall give such bond as said board may prescribe, and such bond shall be liable for all moneys coming into the hands of said treasurer. Sec. 3. That the provisions of this act shall be submitted to a vote by the qualified voters of the town of Franklin on the first Monday in May, eighteen hundred and ninety-nine, under the rules and regulations prescribed for members of the board of commissioners of said town. The town commissioners shall cause a notice of said election and of the purpose of the same to be posted at four public places in said town for thirty days before said election. All qualified voters wishing to vote in favor of the issuing of said bonds and the levying of the tax herein provided for shall vote a written or printed ticket with the words “Approved," and those wishing to vote against the issuing of the bonds and levying the tax shall vote a ticket with the word written or printed, "Disapproved " If a majority of such voters shall vote "Approved," it shall be deemed and held that a majority of the qualified voters of the town of Franklin are in favor of issuing the bonds and levying the tax, and in such case this act shall be and remain in full force and effect. But if a majority shall vote "Disapproved," this act shall be null and void, Sec. 4. This act shall be in force from aud after its ratification. Corporators. Body corporate, CHAPTER 299. An act to incorporate the Davidson Mineral Railway Company. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact: Section 1. That Wyndham Henry Wynne, Edward Hopkins and S. E Williams and J. M. Primm and their associates, successors and assigns, be and they are hereby created and constituted a body politic and corporate to be styled the Davidson Mineral Corporate name, Railway Company, and by that name to remain in succession, with full power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded; to acquire by gift, purchase or otherwise hold, enjoy and convey property, real, personal and mixed, and of whatever kind or class that may be necessary for the conduct and maintenance of said corporation. Corporate pow ers. Seal. Sec. 2. That it shall have and is hereby authorized and empow ered to keep and use a common seal; to make, alter and maintain all such by-laws as may be deemed necessary and expedient for By-laws. operate railroad. Sec. 3. That said corporation shall have power and authority Empowered to to lay, cut, construct, equip, maintain and operate a railway in construct and the county of Davidson from Lexington or Linwood, in the county of Davidson, on the Southern Railroad, to the Narrows or the Great Falls of the Yadkin river, in Montgomery county, by way of Silver Hill, Davidson county. Sec. 4. That the guage or width between the rails of said road Gauge of road. may be either broad or narrow in the common acceptation of the term, as the corporation shall deem best, not to be less than three feet wide. struction. Sec. 5. That said proposed railway may be built and main- Purpose of contained for the purpose of carrying either passengers or freight, or both, with proper appliances and accommodation for the same. Sec. 6. That the power to be used by said corporation for haul- Power used. ing or propelling trains and cars may be either steam, electricity or other mechanical motive force or power. condemn lands. Sec. 7. That in the prosecution of the business herein author- Empowered to ized, the said corporation shall have the right and is hereby authorized and empowered to condemn all such lands as they can not acquire by gift or purchase as may be needed for its use and enjoyment in establishing, laying out and conducting its business for right-of-way for necessary warehouses or depots or other buildings, in the same manner and form and to the same extent and under the same rules as are now provided by law in chapter forty-nine, volume one, of The Code of the state and laws amendatory thereof. Sec. 8. That said corporation in laying out, locating and con- May follow and use public roads. structing its right-of-way and road-bed thereon, may follow and use any public road or other public highway on its route with out charge, let or hindrance from anyone: Provided, they or it shall leave and restore amp'e room and passageway or roadway for the passage, use and benefit of vehicles and other public travel along said roads or highways. Sec. 9. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be sixty Capital stock. thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each, with the privilege to increase the said capital stock to one hundred thousand dollars, if it shall be found necessary or expedient. Sec. 10. That within twelve months after the passage of this First meeting. act, on a call signed by any three of the corporators, they and their associates may meet in Lexington, North Carolina, and ac Election of officers. Duration of charter. May borrow money, etc. Conflicting laws lepealed. cept the charter organized, and elect such officers and for such length of time as they may deem necessary for the control and management of said corporation and till their successors are elected and qualified as by the by-laws required, to-wit: Presi dent, treasurer, secretary, and etc. Sec. 11. That said corporation shall have sixty years in which to transact its business and wind up its affairs. Sec. 12. That said corporation may borrow money and pond. hypothecate or mortgage it road-bed, rolling stock or other and all its property of whatever kind for the payment of the same, not to exceed the amount of its cash subscription. Sec. 13. That all laws and clauses of laws in conflict [or] inconsistent with this act are hereby repealed. Sec. 14. That this act shall be in force from and after its ratification. Ratified the 6th day of March, A. D. 1899. Commissioners of Rocky Mount authorized to issue bonds. Limitation to issue. Maturity of bonds. Interest may be received in pay. ment for taxes. Bonds, how signed. Disposition of bonds. CHAPTER 300. An act to authorize the commissioners of the town of Rocky Mount to issue bonds to construct waterworks in said town. The General Assembly of North Carolina do enact : Section 1. That the commissioners of the town of Rocky Mount, for the purpose of constructing waterworks and supplying said town with water, are authorized and empowered to issue bonds, bearing interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per an num, to an amount not exceeding forty thousand dollars of the denomination of one hundred dollars, to each and every one of which shall be attached the coupons representing the interest on said bonds, which said coupons shall be due and payable on the second day [of] January of each year until the maturity of said bonds. The bonds so issued by said commissioners shall run for a period of twenty years, and shall be numbered consecutively from one to four hundred, and shall declare the amount of interest which they represent, and when the interest is due, and when it is payable, and shall be receivable in payment of all municipal taxes levied by said town. The said bonds shall be exempt from municipal taxation. Sec. 2. That said bonds shall be signed by the mayor of Rocky Mount and attested by the signature of the clerk of the board of town commissioners, with the corporate seal of said town also attached. The board of commissioners of said town shall dispose of said bonds as the necessity for the prosecution of said work |