authorized to commence business by establishing an office in Galveston county and doing a general insurance business, as hereinbefore stated in section two; and to make contracts, issue policies, and do all other acts necssary in carrying on such a business; to charge and receive such premiums, commissions and compensations for the risks taken and the business done as the president and board of general directors may deem just; to loan money or bottomry and respondentia security at marine interest; to deal in bullion, stocks and public securities; to make loans on real estate, stocks and personal property; discount notes and acceptances; buy and sell bills of exchange; receive money on deposit, and to use its capital and funds in any other lawful manner.

or

SEC. 14. That said company shall have power to purchase real estate for its own purposes; to lease, mortgage, sell and convey, to create any other form of lien upon the property of said company, real, personal or mixed, by a vote of the board of general directors, as herein provided, by deed, lease, mortgage, or any other instrument of writing in due form of law, signed by the president and secretary and attested by its seal.

SEC. 15. That said company is hereby authorized to establish agencies in any or in every county in this State, whenever one thousand shares of the capital stock of said company shall be subscribed for each or any one respective agency; said agency to be governed by its own local board of trustees, elected from among and by its stockholders, having the same qualifications as required for the board of general directors, and for their electors as hereinbefore specified in section six. Each agency board of trustees shall have authority to loan its surplus capital and funds to residents of its own district, on mortgage of improved real estate, to amount of onethird of its value; provided, that no. loan shall be made on homestead property, nor on buildings not insured in some of the offices of this company; and to make such by-laws for their own government and business, as shall not conflict with this charter, or with such rules and regulations as shall, from time to time, be adopted by the general board of directors.

SEC. 16. That the entire property and assets of the principal, and all agencies, shall be alike, liable for all losses incurred by each in every district. All policies shall issue from, and all losses be adjusted and paid, at the principal office in Galveston county, by advice of and concurrence with the local board of trustees of the district in which the loss occurs. On the first day of every month every board of trustees shall, through their proper officers, make a return to the secretary of the principal office in Galveston county, of the exact condition of their agency at that date, with a remittance

of forty per centum of their gross receipts for the month previous; and should said forty per centum be, at any time, insufficient to meet losses and expenses, each agency shall pay such additional assessments as may be required by the board of general directors.

SEC. 17. That all assets, including the money, notes, bonds, mortgages, deeds of trust, and other securities of the company, shall be under the control of the general board of directors, and in custody of the treasurer, or of such other person or persons as the general board of directors may appoint.

SEC. 18. That semi-annually, on the first days of January and July of every year, the general board of directors shall make a statement of the exact condition of the company, inclusive of all agencies, which statement shall be sworn to by the president and secretary, and published not less than three times in two daily papers in Galveston, and in every locality where there is an agency, or in the nearest paper to each agency; and should such statement show a sufficient net surplus from the business of the previous six months, after placing such a sum to the reserve fund as the existing liabilities may demand, the board of general directors shall declare a dividend of all of such surplus as has been derived from fire and marine, and one-half of that derived from life risks, on the entire stock certificates issued; and the remaining one-half derived from life risks shall be divided equally on the life premiums paid up to the six months previous; provided, that no dividend shall be paid to the stockholders exceeding twenty per centum per annum.

SEC. 19. That all losses on fire and marine risks shall be paid out of premiums received for those risks, or out of the capital paid up; and that all losses on life risks shall be paid out of premiums received for such, or out of the capital paid up.

SEC. 20. That the corporators hereinbefore named in section 1, are hereby constituted the first board of general directors, to hold office until the annual election, as hereinbefore provided, on the first Monday after the first day of January, 1873.

SEC. 21. That as soon as practicable after the passage of this act the corporators hereinbefore named shall meet at some place in Galveston county, and organize said "Home Insurance and Trust Company of Texas," by the election of a president, vice president, secretary and treasurer; that the officers designated by the board shall then be empowered to open books for subscription to the capital stock of said company; that all certificates issued for the same shall be signed by the president and secretary, and attested by the seal of the company; and that when two thousand shares shall have been so subscribed and the amount paid up, said company may commence busi

ness as hereinbefore provided by section 13, and under the general provisions of this charter.

SEC. 22. That this act shall be in force from and after its pas

sage.

Approved December 1, 1871.

CHAPTER CXXVII.

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE ODD FELLOWS' HALL ASSOCIATION OF BRYAN, TEXAS.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That William McIntosh, J. W. Boyles, R. A. Blanford, Thomas McCarty, T. T. Smothers, H. S. Newland, H. T. Donnard, T. S. Snow, A. M. Dechman and John J. Kimbrough, and their associates and successors in office, be and they are hereby created and established a body corporate and politic under the name and style of the Odd Fellows' Hall Association, with capacity in said corporate name to make contracts; to hold, buy and sell property, both real and personal; to contract and execute leases; to take grants and gifts; to execute deeds, mortgages and deeds of trust; to have succession and a common seal; to make by-laws for the government and regulation of its affairs; to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded; to declare dividends and make divisions of property; to loan its moneys to any person or persons in such way as it may think proper, and to do and perform all things as it may think necessary and proper for and incident to the fulfillment of its obligations and maintenance of its rights under this act, and consistent with the laws of this State; provided, that nothing in this act shall be so construed as to authorize this corporation to use its money or other effects in any manner which it may not be lawful for any citizen of the State to do.

SEC. 2. That the officers and managers of this association shall consist of seven directors to be elected by the shareholders, four of whom shall be resident members of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows of Bryan, Texas, and in good standing as such, and all of whom shall be elected by the said shareholders on a voting basis to be determined by the by-laws--one president, one vice president, one secretary and one treasurer, to be elected by the directors from among the said shareholders as provided by the by-laws of said as

sociation. Such officers shall receive such compensation for their services as the by-laws may provide, and their term of office shall be for one year, subject to removal in such manner as the by-laws may prescribe.

SEC. 3. That the minimum capital stock shall be five thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing the same to two hundred thousand dollars.

SEC. 4. That this association shall not own or possess at any one time real property in the State of Texas exceeding one million of dollars in value.

SEC. 5. That the capital stock of five thousand dollars shall be divided into five hundred shares of ten dollars each, payable in monthly instalments of one dollar per share per month; and no shareholder shall be required to make payment of instalment of his stock other than as herein required.

SEC. 6. That should any shareholder of the corporation fail, refuse or neglect to pay or cause to be paid his regular monthly instalments, his stock shall be forfeited to the association; provided, that by and with the consent of the directory, for good cause shown, such delinquent shall be allowed sixty days to redeem such stock thus forfeited, he or she paying interest thereon at the rate of one per centum per month on the amount so due.

SEC. 7. That in case any share or shares of stock should become forfeited, in accordance with the foregoing provisions, the board of directors shall dispose of the same in such manner as the by-laws may direct.

SEC. 8. That whenever five hundred shares shall have been subscribed, and one months' instalment paid in, the association shall be deemed organized, and competent to transact business under this charter, and be entitled to all the grants and privileges hereunder.

SEC. 9. That service of any and all legal proceedings in any suit or proceeding against said corporation, shall be sufficient, if made upon the president or secretary of the board of directors, or if both shall be without the limits of this State, then such service shall be had by publication, as by law provided in such case.

SEC. 10. That this charter or act shall remain in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage, and for and during the period of ninety-nine years.

Approved December 1, 1871.

V

CHAPTER CXXVIII.

AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE TOWN OF COMANCHE, IN COMANCHE COUNTY, TEXAS.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Teras, That the citizens of the town of Comanche, Comanche county, be and they are hereby declared a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of the corporation of the town of Comanche, and by said corporate name shall have power of suing and being sued, pleading and being impleaded, and of holding and disposing of personal and real estate within the limits of said corporation.

SEC. 2. That the lines of said corporation shall run as follows, viz.: Beginning at a point on Indian creek, at the spring on the Ben Clark survey, near the residence of F. M. Brown; thence north to the northeast corner of the town donation tract; thence west to the east boundary line in the name of James D. Wright; thence south to Indian creek; thence east with the meanderings of said Indian creek to the beginning.

SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the citizens, qualified voters under the Constitution and laws of this State, who reside in the foregoing territory, to elect a mayor, four-aldermen, a town marshal, and a recorder, and that said election shall be held within sixty days from and after the passage of this act, ten days' notice of election being given; that the presiding justice shall direct said election, appointing suitable citizens to act as judges, and shall give the notice required in this act; that annually, from the date of said election, the mayor shall give ten days' notice and order election of successors in office. In case of vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, the mayor and aldermen shall elect to fill such vacancy.

SEC. 4. That the recorder shall act as assessor and collector of corporation taxes in said corporation, and shall give such bond as may be required by the mayor and aldermen. The mayor and board of aldermen shall appoint one of their body to act as treasurer, who shall give such bond and be governed by such ordinances as may be enacted by said body; and shall pay out the funds of said corporation on the order of the mayor, approved by a majority of the aldermen.

SEC. 5. That all qualified voters, under the Constitution and laws of the State, shall be allowed to vote in the election of officers for said corporation, and that no one shall be eligible to the office of