it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the General Land Office of the State to issue to said company certificates for six hundred and forty acres each, to the amount of sixteen sections per mile so completed and reported, which said certificates shall be located and surveyed in alternate sections, the field notes and maps returned to the general land office, and the odd sections patented to said company, and the even sections being reserved to the State for the school fund.

SEC. 13. That this charter shall remain in force for the period of ninety-nine years from the date of the passage of ́ this act.

SEC. 14. That said road, if the line of same shall touch the limits of the county of Leon, shall establish a depot in one half mile of the public square of the town of Centreville, in said county of Leon.

SEC. 15. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved May 1, 1874.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

An Act to grant Lands to the International Railroad Company, in lieu of Bonds, on a portion of its line of road.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That so much of the International railroad as may be hereafter constructed west of the city of San Antonio, in the county of Bexar, to a point at or near the city of Loredo, in the county of Webb, on the Rio Grande river, in accordance with the provisions of its charter, passed August 5, A. D. 1870, the said company shall be entitled to have and receive from the State of Texas, twenty sections of land of six hundred and forty acres each, for each and every mile of said road constructed as aforesaid; provided, that the said company shall not be required to construct the road east of Jefferson, and the State shall be relieved from any obligation upon that part of the road; and provided further, that this act shall not be construed as an admission on the part of this Legislature, that said company are entitled to any subsidy from the State of Texas by reason of any act of a former Legislature.

SEC. 2. That on application of the president of said railroad company for the inspection of ten miles or more of said portion of said road, it shall be the duty of the Governor to cause such section to be inspected by the State engineer, or some competent person. The person so appointed to inspect the same shall make an examination thereof without delay, and on his report, in writing, under oath, that the same has been substantially built, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of the Land Office to issue and deliver to the president of said company or any duly authorized agent thereof, twenty certificates, for six hundred and forty acres of land each, for each and every mile of said portion of said road so constructed, and in like manner for each additional section of ten miles or more as the same may be constructed; which said certificates may be located, surveyed, and patented on any of the unappropriated public domain of the State, in accordance with the laws relating to the appropriation of the public lands to railroad companies; provided, the State shall be in no wise liable for, or on account of any deficiency in the vacant public domain.

SEC. 3. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved May 1, 1874.

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

An Act to authorize the Liberty Fire Company No. 2, of the City of Houston, to Raise, Provide for, and Administer a Charity Fund.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the said "Liberty Fire Company No. 2," shall have power and authority to raise, provide for, hold and administer a charity fund for the benefit of its members and other eleemosynary purposes; and to this end and purpose the said company may accept, receive, and take gifts, bequests and devises of money and other property for said charity fund, or upon special trusts for objects and purposes of like character.

SEC. 2. That all moneys and other property which have heretofore been appropriated and set apart to the relief fund, and which may hereafter, from time to time be

appropriated and set apart to said fund, together with five per centum of the interest and profits accruing therefrom, shall constitute a perpetual fund, which shall not be diverted or appropriated to any other use or purpose.

SEC. 3. That the said charity fund shall be managed and controlled, invested and reinvested, by three members of said company, who shall constitute a board of trustees. The said board shall be elected at some regular meeting, to be held within ninety days after the passage of this act.

SEC. 4. When a vacancy occurs in the board of trustees it shall be immediately filled by the remaining members. of the board appointing another member of the company, and should the board of trustees fail to fill the vacancy before two regular meetings of the company shall have been held, it may then be filled by the company at a regular meeting from among its members.

SEC. 5. That the legal title to all money, property, and effects belonging to said charity fund, shall be held in the name of the trustees for the use of said company, and may be disposed of by them, or any two of them. Said trustees shall keep a record and account of all their transactions as trustees, and shall make semi-annually reports to the company at the regular monthly meetings, held in January and July. That the said trustees shall not, under any circumstances, be entitled to any commissions, compensation or emoluments, and in the administration and management of said fund, the said trustees shall exercise a sound discretion, and act as a reasonably prudent man would act in the management of his own business, and so acting they shall be liable for no loss that may happen. SEC. 6. That this act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Approved May 2, 1874.

CHAPTER XXXIX.

An Act to amend the caption of an Act entitled "An Act to incorporate the Rockport, Fulton, Laredo and Mexican Pacific Railroad Company,” approved March 11, 1871, and to change the name of said Railroad Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That the caption of an act entitled "An Act to

incorporate the Rockport, Fulton, Laredo and Mexican Pacific Railroad Company," approved March 11, 1871, be and the same is hereby amended so as to read as follows: "An Act to incorporate the Texas and Mexican Pacific Railroad Company."

SEC. 2. That the name of said railroad company shall hereafter be "The Texas and Mexican Pacific Railroad Company," and that all bonds issued by said company, and all proceedings by and against said company, shall hereafter be in the name of said company as changed and specified by this act.

SEC. 3. That this act take effect and be in force from and after its passage. Approved May 2, 1874.

CHAPTER XL.

An Act to incorporate the Caddo, Paris and Jefferson Branch of the Missouri Kansas and Texas Railroad Company.

SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Texas, That W. M. Harrison, W. L. Crawford and J. H. Bemis, of the city of Jefferson; Geo. Chambers, of Titus county; F. M. Smith, of Red River county; J. W. Broad, W. B. Wright, and J. W. Hardison, of the city of Paris; J. R. Barrett and W. D. Merrick, of Sedalia, Missouri; and Francis Skiddy, of New York, their associates, successors and assigns, be and are hereby constituted and appointed a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of the Caddo, Paris and Jefferson Branch of the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railway Company," and as such shall have succession for sixty years, and a common seal; shall have power to sue and be sued; to plead and be impleaded; receive grants, gifts and donations; buy, hold, sell and convey property, real, personal and mixed; make by-laws, rules and regulations for their general government, and generally to do all things and acts necessary to its interests and not unlawful.

SEC. 2. The persons named in the first section of this act shall constitute the first board of directors, and shall hold their office for one year, or until their successors have been elected and qualified; a majority of them shall be a

quorum, and their first meeting shall be held at such time and place as they may deem proper, and after a call published thirty days in two newspapers in the State, signed by a majority of said board, when they may organize for business, appoint time and place for opening subscription books, fix the number of shares and amount of each, the amount of per cent. to be paid in on each share; and when the whole stock has been subscribed and at least ten per cent. on the whole amount of stock paid in, call a meeting of the stockholders for permanent organization by thirty days' publication in two newspapers in the State of Texas, and such other newspapers outside of the State as may be directed by the board; and in said permanent organiza tion the stockholders may make and adopt all the by-laws, rules and regulations deemed necessary for the general government of the company, which any future meeting of the stockholders may alter or amend as becomes necessary; may determine the number of permanent directors and their term of office; may provide for an executive committee of said board, and fix its powers, and such other things as they may deem necessary for the government of their company; and the seal of said company may be determined or altered by the directors, or the name of the company changed by them, and said company shall have the right to receive subscriptions to aid in the building of their said road, from individuals, corporations, cities, towns, or counties, in lands, bonds, notes, or other property, conditional or unconditional, as the company through its agents or the parties may agree, payable to the president of said company or his successors, and the right to enforce the payment of the same, or of any written agreement to subscribe for stock, by suit in the courts of the county, in the name of the president or any assignee of the

company.

SEC. 3. That said company is hereby authorized and empowered to own, construct, maintain, equip, and operate a continuous line of railroad and telegraph, together with all the rights and appurtenances thereto belonging, or in any way incident or appertaining. Said railroad shall be built the most direct and practicable route between the terminal points, to-wit: the city of Jefferson in the county of Marion, to a point on Red River, in Lamar county, between the mouth of Bois D'Arc and the mouth of Sanders Creek, where the south branch of the Missouri, Kansas and