MD Seal


General Assembly of Maryland

Session of 1904

LAWS OF MARYLAND

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland, That an Act to Charter the Solomons and Patuxent Railroad Company is hereby enacted so as to read as follows:

1. Incorporators Named

The following persons are hereby clothed with all the powers, duties, rights, and franchises granted under the general incorporation laws of Maryland to wit:

Joseph C. Lore, Sr., Harry M. Woodburn, Warren Denton, Joseph C. Gray, Sr. and Goodman Goldstein, and their successors in office, are hereby constituted a body corporate, with all the powers which are granted to any similar or other railroad company incorporated under provision of Article 23 of the Code of Public General Laws.


2. Shall Have Perpetual Succession

The name of said corporation shall be the Solomons and Patuxent Railroad Company, and said corporation, subject to the constitutional power of the General Assembly to amend, alter or repeal this Act, shall have perpetual succession, and shall have a common seal, which it may alter or change at will, and the power to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any court of law or equity whatever.


3. Capital Stock. Privilege to Increase

The capital stock of said corporation shall be sixty thousand dollars, divided into twelve hundred shares of the par value of fifty dollars each, which said capital stock may be increased by the president and directors of said corporation to an amount not exceeding five hundred thousand dollars.


4. Terms of Office

The persons herinbefore named, or a majority of them, may cause books to be opened at such times and places as they may elect, and when two hundred shares or more of its capital stock shall have been subscribed, said corporation, by its directors, or a majority of them, shall call a general meeting of the subscribers at such time and place as they may appoint, after giving ten days public notice of such meeting by two insertions in some newspaper published in Calvert County. At such meeting the aforementioned persons, or a majority of them, shall lay the subscription books before the subscribers then and there present, and said subscribers, representing a majority of the subscribed stock, shall elect five or more directors, not exceeding, however, nine in number, who shall be stockholders in said corporation, to manage the affairs of said corporation for the next ensuing year, or until their successors are elected and qualified,

Power to Elect President

which directors so elected shall have the power to elect a president from their own number, and in said election and all other elections each shareholder shall be allowed one vote for each share of stock owned by him; the persons herinbefore named shall be the judges of said election, and until such election takes place shall be directors of said corporation, with full power and authority to act as such.

Shall Make, etc.

The board of directors shall provide for an annual election of directors at some definite time or date to be designated by them, or a majority of them. Said board of directors, when organized shall have the power to make by-laws and regulations for the management of said company, and may employ such clerks, agents or other employees at such salaries or wages as may be mutually agreed on.


5. Power to Construct and Operate Railroad, etc.

The said company shall have power to construct, equip, maintain and operate a railroad propelled by electricity, steam or other power, as the directors may determine, from some point near the Anne Arundel county line, through the towns of Owings and Prince Frederick to a point near Solomons Island, to haul passengers, parcels, packages and freight over said railroad, and charge therefor such rates as compensation therefor as the board of directors may from time to time determine and fix.


6. How the Railroad Shall Be Constructed

The railroad so to be constructed shall be single or double track, and shall have as many sets of tracks, switches and turnouts and branches, not exceeding twenty miles in length, as the said directors may deem necessary;

May Contract for Building Railroad Bridges, etc.

And the said directors, or a majority of them, or their agents, may cause to be made or contract with others for making such railroad tracks, switches, turnouts, branches, power-houses and trolleys, or any part thereof, including the building of bridges, necessary houses, depots and stations, and all work whatsoever necessary to the proper completion and working of such railroad and branches; and may acquire land, earth, stone, gravel or other material required for the purposes aforesaid, by agreement with the owner or owners of any land, or other material, or any improvements for the construction or repair of said road or its works, and for the purchase, use and occupation of the same, and in case they do not agree, or the owner or owners be femme covert, under age, non compos mentis, or out of the jurisdiction of the court of the county where the land may lie, for the service of process where such land or material may be needed,

May Condemn Land Necessary for Their Purposes

said company may proceed to condemn and acquire the same for the purpose in the manner provided for by Sections 167, 169 and 173, inclusive, of Article 23 of the Code of Public General Laws, and may condemn lands, easements, rights of way, materials and privileges for the purposes aforesaid; and shall have other rights, privileges and powers conferred by the General Laws, so far as the same does not conflict herewith.

7. Power to Manufacture Electric Light and Power, etc.

The said company shall also have power to manufacture and sell and to furnish such quantities of electric light and power as may be required or desired at any point in Calvert County, and to contract for and furnish electric light for lighting the streets, public and private buildings in said county, or of any city or town therein, and for motive power and other purposes;

Authorized to Lay, Purchase or Construct Lines, etc., With Consent of Owners

and the said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to lay, purchase, construct or build lines, conductors and conduits under, along, upon or over streets, squares, lanes, alleys, roads or ways whatsoever in said county, or any city or town therein, and over, under and along any private property in said county, the Consent of the owners thereof being first had and obtained; and to connect the same with any manufactory, car or conveyance, and in general to manufacture, sell, furnish or supply electric light and power or street electricity, and electric machinery and supplies for any and all purposes that may be desired or required, and to use the necessary means for the accomplishment of the purpose of this incorporation;

Empowered to Use Certain Roads, Alleys, Streets, etc.

and said corporation is also empowered to use any road, alleys and highways, and the streets, lanes or alleys of any city or town in said county, subject always to any ordinance that may be passed by the municipal authorities of such town or city, or the County Commissioners of said county as to the use, occupation, filling up, repairing or restoring such streets, roads or highways, in conformity to such ordinances or rules.

8. Authority to Enter into Any Agreement with Other Railways for Certain Purposes

The said company is hereby authorized to enter into any agreement with any passenger railway company of this or with other states for the making of track connections, and to make agreements with such railways for the carrying and transportation of passengers and freights of each over the other; and it is authorized to consolidate with or lease other railways, and also to build and construct lateral branches not exceeding twenty miles in length.


9. May Borrow Money and Issue Bonds

The said company is authorized to borrow money on its property and franchises, and to issue bonds for the payment of same by a mortgage of said property and franchises; provided, that it shall not issue any mortgage bonds in excess of its capital stock.

SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That this Act shall take effect from the date of its passage.

Approved April 10, 1904

Edwin Warfield , ESQ., GOVERNOR

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