Chapter XCVIII. *to Incorporate the Georgetown Gaslight Company.* July 20, 1854. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That David English, Robert Corporators
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Chap. XCVIII.— An Act *to Incorporate the Georgetown Gaslight Company.* July 20, 1854. *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,* That David English, Robert Corporators.P. Dodge, Richard Cruikshank, William M. Fitzhugh, Richard Pettit, William F. Seymour, Adolphus H. Pickrell, and William Buckuell, and their present and future associates, are hereby declared to be a body Namo.politic and corporate, by the name and style of “The Georgetown Gaslight Company,” and by the same name shall have perpetual succession, Powers and duties.and shall be able to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all courts of law and equity in the District of Columbia and elsewhere; to make and have a common seal, and the same to break, alter, and renew, at pleasure; to ordain and establish by-laws, ordinances, and regulations, and generally to do every act and thing necessary to carry into effect this act, or to promote the objects and design of this corporation.
Capital stock not to exceed $150.000. Sec. 2. *And be it further enacted,* That the capital stock of this corporation shall not exceed one hundred and fifty thousand dollars; that a share in the same shall be twenty-five dollars, and books of subscription to the said capital stock, or to such portions thereof, as from time to time may by the directors, for the time being, be deemed proper and necessary, shall be opened by the appointment, or under the direction of the directors hereinafter named, subject to such rules, limitations, and conditions Deemed personal property.as by them shall be prescribed, and the stock of the said company shall be deemed personal property.
Affairs, &c. of said corporation to be managed by a president and seven directors—how they arc to be chosen. Sec. 3. *And be it further enacted,* That the stock, property, and affairs of the said company shall be managed and conducted by and under the direction of a president and seven directors, being stockholders; that the said directors shall be elected on the first Monday of June, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and on the same day in each succeeding year thereafter, and shall hold their offices for one year from the day of their election, and until other directors shall be elected in their place; that such elections shall be held in Georgetown aforesaid, at such time and place as a majority of the directors for the time being shall appoint, and notice of such time and place of election shall be given by advertisement in one or more newspapers printed and published in the said town, at least fourteen days before the day of holding such election, and every such election shall be by ballot, and by such of the stockholders as shall attend for that purpose, either in person or by proxy, and each stockholder shall be entitled to one vote for each share of the stock which he or she may have held, and may continue to hold in his or her own name, for at least fourteen days before the time of voting; and the persons having the greatest number of votes shall be the directors; and if it shall happen that two or more persons shall have an equal number of votes, the directors in office at the time of such election shall, by a plurality of votes, given by ballot, determine which of the persons so having an equal number of votes shall be director or directors, so Directors to choose one of their number president.as to complete the whole number to be chosen; and the directors so chosen shall, as soon as may be thereafter, proceed to elect by ballot, one of their own number, or one of the shareholders, to be their president; and whenever any vacancy shall happen in the said board, of president and directors, the same shall be filled up by the remaining Proviso.directors by plurality of votes, until the next annual election: *Provided always,* That the president of the said company, and at least six of the directors, shall be inhabitants of the said town.
Appointment of the first directors and president. Duration of their office. Sec. 4. *And be it further enacted,* That David English, Robert P. Dodge, Richard Cruikshank, William M. Fitzhugh, Richard Pettit, William F. Seymour, Adolphus H. Pickrell, and William Buckuell shall be the first directors of the said company; the first named of whom shall be their president, and shall hold their offices until the first Monday in 787June, in the year eighteen hundred and fifty-four, and until others are chosen in their places.
Sec. 5. *And be it further enacted,* That in case it shall happen at any When the day of election may be fixed by the by-laws.time that an election for directors shall not take place on the day appointed by this act for that purpose, the said corporation shall not for that cause, or for any non-user, be deemed to be dissolved, but it shall and may be lawful to hold an election for directors on any other day, in such manner as shall be provided for by the by-laws of the said corporation.
Sec. 6. *And be it further enacted,* That it shall and may be lawful for Manner in which capital stock shall be paid in.the directors or a majority of them, to require payment of the subscriptions to the capital stock of the said corporation at such times and in such proportions as they, or a majority of them, shall deem fit, under the penalty of forfeiting any or all previous payment or payments thereon: *Provided,* Notice of the instalment required to be paid shall have been Proviso.published at least fourteen days in one or more of the newspapers printed and published in the said town, before the day appointed for the payment thereof.
Sec. 7. *And be it further enacted,* That the President and Directors President and directors: their power and duties.shall hare full power and authority to manufacture, make, and sell gas, to be made of coal, oil, tar, peat, pitch, turpentine, or other material, and to be used for the purpose of lighting the City of Georgetown, or the streets thereof, and any buildings, manufactories, or houses therein contained and situate; and to lay pipes for the purpose of conducting gas in any of the streets, lanes, or alleys of the said city: *Provided however,* Proviso.That the said company shall so conduct the manufacture of gas as not to injure private property, or create a nuisance; and that the said pipes shall be laid, subject to such conditions, and in compliance with such regulations, as the Corporation of Georgetown, aforesaid, may from time to time prescribe: *And provided further,* That the right to erect and put Further proviso.up any buildings, works, or apparatus, for the manufacture of gas, shall be subject to such terms, conditions, restrictions, and regulations as the said Corporation of Georgetown may, from time to time, prescribe or direct.
Sec. 8. *And be it further enacted,* That if any person or persons shall Penalty for wilfully injuring or damaging any of the works, erected by said company.wilfully do, or cause to be done, any act or acts whatsoever, whereby the works of the said company, or any pipe, conduit, plug, cock, reservoir, or any engine, machine, or structure, or any matter or thing appertaining to the same shall be stopped, obstructed, impaired, weakened, injured, or destroyed, the person or persons so offending shall forfeit and pay to the said corporation double the amount of the damage sustained by means of such offence or injury, to be recovered in the name of said corporation, How recovered.with cost of suit in any action of debt, or on the case, to be brought in any court having cognizance thereof.
Sec. 9. *And be it further enacted,* That nothing in this act shall be Nothing in this act to be construed so as to prevent any person or company from engaging in the business specified in the 7th section of this act.construed to prevent any person or persons, nor any incorporated company, hereafter to be created by Congress for that purpose, from engaging in and pursuing the business specified in the seventh section of this act; and that it shall be lawful for Congress, at any time hereafter, to alter, amend, or repeal this act.
Sec. 10. *And be it further enacted,* That nothing in this act contained shall be construed to authorize the said Georgetown Gaslight Company Said corporation prohibited from making, is suing, or putting in circulation notes, checks, drafts, &c., intended to circulate as money.to make, issue, or put in circulation any bill, draft, check, order, promissory note, change ticket, or any thing else promising or agreeing to pay money, intended to circulate as money, or the tendency of which shall be to circulate as money or currency, and the violation of any one of the provisions of this section shall be a forfeiture of the charter hereby given, and shall subject each of the directors voting for the same, to a fine of fifty dollars. 788 THIRTY-THIRD CONGRESS.
Sess. I. Ch. 100, 101, 104. 1854. Sec. 11. *And be it further enacted,* That each of the stockholders in Individual liability of the stockholders.the Georgetown Gaslight Company shall be held liable in his or her individual capacity for all the debts and liabilities of the said company, however contracted or incurred, to be recovered by suit, as other debts or liabilities, before the court or tribunal having jurisdiction of the case. Part of act of 1852, ch. 79 repealed. Sec. 12. *And be it further enacted,* That all right granted to the Washington Gaslight Company by an act entitled “An act to amend an act entitled ‘An act to incorporate the Washington Gaslight Company, approved July eight, eighteen hundred and forty-eight,’ approved August second, eighteen hundred and fifty-two,” to lay gas mains or pipes in the City of Georgetown, be and the same is hereby repealed.
Approved, July 20, 1854.