proval thereof by the commissioners, that the width thereof shall be definitely established by said directors or commissioners, previous to said location; but before the damages shall be assessed to any landholder, by the said appraisers, the width of said railroad shall be definitely fixed and established by said directors over and across the land so taken, upon one or both sides of the line of the road so located. And the said company may at any time before the completion of said road, alter and change any part of the location, or discontinue such part thereof as in their opinion, convenience or necessity may require to be changed or discontinued, subject to the approval of the commissioners on said road, and the other requirements of this charter. Provided further, that in case the persons required by this section to be notified shall have no place of residence in this state, known to the occupant of the land over which said road passes, or to any of the directors or commissioners of said company, then a notice published for three weeks successively in one newspaper printed in Fairfield county, stating what proceedings are intended by said company to be instituted, shall be sufficient notice to such non-resident landholder; and when the place of residence of any such landholder is known to the persons aforesaid, and is out of this state, then a duplicate original notice, or a true and attested copy of the original notice, deposited in the post office, post-paid, directed to such person three weeks before the hearing is to be had, shall be sufficient notice according to said charter; or any judge or the clerk of the superior court for said Fairfield county may give an order of notice, as in case of a bill in equity in any of the cases aforesaid.

SEC. 8. That whenever the lands or other property or estate of any feme-covert, infant, or person non compos mentis, shall be necessary for the construction of said railroad, said lands may be taken, notice being given to the husband of such feme-covert, and the guardian of such infant or person non compos mentis, and the said husband and guardian may respectively release all such damages for any lands or estate taken and appropriated as aforesaid, as they might do if the same were holden in their own right respectively.

SEC. 9. That said company is hereby authorized to construct, erect, build, make and use a single, double or treble railway or road, of suitable width and dimensions, to be determined by the directors of said company, on the line or course by them designated, and shall have power to regulate the time and manner in which goods and passengers shall be transported, taken and carried on the same, and shall have power to erect and maintain toll-houses and other buildings for the accommodation of their concerns, as they may deem suitable for their interests.

SEC. 10. That whenever it shall be necessary for the construction of their single, double or treble railroad, or way, to intersect or cross any stream of water or water-course, or any road or highway, it shall be lawful for said company to construct said railroad across or upon the same. But the said company shall restore the said stream or water-course, or road or highway, thus intersected, to its former state, or in sufficient manner not to impair its usefulness; and in all cases when any road or public highway is so located, that said railroad cannot be judiciously laid out and constructed across or upon the same, without interfering therewith, in such case or cases, said corporation may, by their engineer, cause such road or

roads to be changed or altered in such manner that said railroad may be made on the best site of ground for that purpose; provided, that said corporation shall put such road in as good repair as at the time of changing or altering the same. And said corporation may apply to said county commissioners for Fairfield county, after notice given, to decide whether said corporation have complied with the provisions aforesaid, and if approved by them their decision shall be final. And said company shall pay for all damages that may accrue to any party or person whatsoever, by reason of the provisions of this section, in manner as provided in the sixth section of this act.

SEC. 11. That it shall be lawful for the company hereby incorporated, from time to time, to fix, regulate and receive the tolls and charges by them to be received for transportation of persons or property on their single, double or treble railroad or way aforesaid, hereby authorized to be constructed, erected, built or used, or upon any part thereof.

SEC. 12. That as soon as the amount of said capital stock of seventyfive thousand dollars shall be subscribed, notice shall be given for a meeting of the stockholders for the purpose of electing directors.

SEC. 13. That the directors of said company may require the payment of the sum or sums subscribed to the capital stock of said company, at such times, and in such proportions, and upon such conditions, as they may deem fit; and in case any stockholder shall refuse or neglect to make payment, pursuant to the requisition of the board of directors, the stock of such stockholder, or so much thereof as shall be necessary, may be sold by the directors of said corporatien, at public auction, after the lapse of thirty days from the time when the payment became due; and the surplus money, the avails of such sale, after deducting the payments due and interest thereon, and the necessary expenses of the sale, shall be paid over to such negligent stockholders.

SEC. 14. That the legislature may authorize any company to enter with another railroad at any point of said Danbury and New York railroad, paying for the right of using the same or any part thereof, such a rate of toll as the legislature may from time to time prescribe, and complying with such rules and regulations as may be established by the commissioners of Fairfield county.

SEC. 15. That if said company shall not expend the sum of fifty thousand dollars upon said railroad or way, within two years from the rising of this assembly, or if they shall not construct and complete, and put in operation, a single, double or treble railroad or way, as herein before authorized, within four years after the passage of this act, then the rights, privileges and powers of said corporation shall be null and void.

SEC. 16. That the capital stock of said company shall be assessed at its just value in money, and taxed at the same rate as personal estate. Resolved further, SEC. 17. That this act may be altered, amended or repealed at the pleasure of the general assembly.

INCORPORATING THE EAST THOMPSON RAILROAD COMPANY.

PASSED 1833.

Resolved by this Assembly, SEC. 1. That Horatio N. Slater, Thomas E. Graves, Royal O. Storrs, Erastus Knight, Ebenezer D. Amidown, Joseph B. Gay, William H. Chandler and Jeremiah Olney, and such other persons as may associate with them for that purpose, be and they are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of the East Thompson Railroad Company, and by that name to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded in any court in this state; and said company is authorized and empowered to locate, construct and complete a single, double or treble railroad, from a point in the dividing line between the state of Connecticut and Massachusetts, in the vicinity of the dwelling house of John Bates in Thompson, thence running in an easterly direc tion through a portion of said town of Thompson, to a point on the location of the Southbridge and Blackstone railroad, between the pond of Asa Sheldon and the east line of this state, in the northeast corner of said Thompson; provided, and this grant is upon condition that for every mile of railroad made and completed, easterly of Webster, in Massachusetts, on the line of railroad herein granted, there shall be made and completed two miles of railroad from Webster, westerly towards the town of Southbridge in said Massachusetts, with power to take, transport and carry persons and property upon said railroad, by the power or force of steam, of animals, of any mechanical or other power, or of any combination of them, which said company may choose to apply, and said company is hereby vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities conferred upon and granted to railroad companies by the act of the general assembly, passed May session, A. D. 1849, and the several acts in addition to and in alteration of said act, and is made subject to all the duties, conditions, restrictions and requirements imposed by said acts, and of such laws as may be hereafter enacted.

SEC. 2. The capital stock of said company shall be forty thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing the same to sixty thousand dollars, to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each.

SEC. 3. The persons named in the first section hereof, or a majority of them, shall open books to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said company, at such times and place as they, or a majority of them, shall appoint, and shall give such notice of the time and place of opening said books as they may deem advisable, and shall receive such subscriptions, under such regulations as they may adopt; and in case the subscriptions shall exceed four hundred shares, the same shall be reduced and apportioned in such manner as they may deem most beneficial to the corpo

ration.

SEC. 4. The persons named in the first section hereof, or a majority of them, are hereby authorized, after the books of subscription to the capital stock of said company are closed, to call the first meeting of the stockholders, in such way and at such time and place as they may appoint, for the choice of officers of said company, and in all meetings of the stock

holders, cach share shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote, which may be given in person or by lawful proxy.

SEC. 5. In case the electors shall not be elected on the day appointed by the by-laws of said company, said company shall not, for that cause, be dissolved, but such election may be had on any future day, to be appointed and notified by the directors of said company.

SEC. 6. When lands or other estate of any feme-covert, infant or person non compos mentis shall be necessary for the construction of said road, said lands or estates may be taken, notice being given to the husband of such feme-covert, the guardian of such infant, or the conservator of such person non compos mentis, and they respectively may release all damages for any lands or estate taken as aforesaid, as they might do as if the same were holden in their own right.

SEC. 7. If said company shall not expend the sum of thirty thousand dollars upon said railroad within three years from the first day of July, 1853, or if they shall not complete and put in operation a single, double or treble railroad, as herein authorized, within four years from date of July first, 1853, then the rights, privileges and powers of this corporation shall be null and void.

SEC. 8. Said company may make any lawful contract with any other railroad company in relation to the business of said company, and may take lease of any other railroad, or may lease said railroad, or may make joint stock with any railroad company.

SEC. 9. This act may be altered, amended or repealed at the pleasure of the general assembly.

TIME EXTENDED FOR EXPENDING MONEY ON AND CONSTRUCTION OF EAST THOMPSON RAILROAD.

PASSED 1856.

Resolved by this Assembly, That the time within which the East Thompson Railroad Company shall expend the sum of thirty thousand dollars on their railroad, and the time in which they shall complete the same, be and the same are hereby extended for a period of two years from and after July 1st, 1856.

RENEWING CHARTER OF FAIRFIELD COUNTY RAILROAD COMPANY.

PASSED 1846.

Upon the petition of Ira Gregory and others, of the town of Danbury, in Fairfield county, showing to this assembly that at a general assembly of the state of Connecticut, holden at Hartford, on the first Wednesday in May, 1835, the petitioner, together with David M. Benedict, who is

since deceased, were by said general assembly constituted a body politic and corporate by the name of the Fairfield County Railroad Company, with the usual powers of suing and being sued, and were in and by their said act of incorporation authorized and empowered to construct a railroad from some suitable point in said town of Danbury, by the most direct and feasible route, to some suitable point at tide-water, either in the town of Fairfield or the town of Norwalk, running through either of the towns of Danbury, Redding, Ridgefield, Weston, Wilton, Fairfield, Westport and Norwalk, or all of them; and that said charter also provided that the capital stock of said company should be two hundred thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing the same to the sum of three hundred thousand dollars, to be divided in shares of fifty dollars each; and thereby Russell Hoyt and others were appointed to open books to receive subscriptions to the capital stock of said company, at such times and places as they or a majority of them should appoint, and were directed to give reasonable notice of such times and places of opening said books; and that said charter also provided for the government, management and direction of the affairs and business of said company, and for the organization thereof; conferring upon them such powers and privileges and imposing upon them such limitations, restrictions and liabilities as were deemed by said general assembly conducive to the interests of said corporation and of the public,-referring to the charter aforesaid, for a more full and complete statement of the provisions thereof. Showing further, that said road then was of public convenience and necessity, and that the same hath by reason of the increase of population and of business in the territory lying upon and adjacent to the line of said proposed railroad become of still higher importance and necessity, but that owing to the great depression of business and pecuniary embarrassment of the country at and for several years next after the time of granting the said charter, as aforesaid, and not because the public interest did not require the construction of said railroad, the said stock was never subscribed nor the company so incorporated organized; that it would greatly promote the prosperity, advance the wealth and increase the manufacturing and other business (already very large) of a majority of the people of Fairfield county, to proceed with said proposed improvement and construct said road;" and that inasmuch as said stock has not been subscribed nor said company or corporation hitherto organized in pursuance of the provisions of their said charter, they cannot now proceed without the aid and interposition of this general assembly; praying for a renewal of said charter. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Assembly convened, That the charter of Fairfield County Railroad Company, incorporated by the general assembly of this state at the May session thereof, in the year of our Lord eighteen hundred and thirty-five, be and the same is hereby renewed and revived, with all the powers originally granted by said general assembly and expressed in said charter, and all the powers and privileges incident thereto: and that Russell Hoyt, Aaron Seeley, George Clapp, Starr Ferry, Isaac H. Seeley, Nathaniel H. Wildman, Frederick S. Wildman, Henry Beers, David H. Belden and