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the place where the railroad shall cross any such traveled public road or street upon the same level with the railroad, except in cities, and be sounded at intervals until it shall have crossed such road or street; and every neglect to comply with the foregoing provisions shall subject the corporation owning the railroad to a fine not exceeding twenty dollars, in the discretion of the court having cognizance of the offense; and every engineer having charge of the engine, for every neglect to comply with the requirements aforesaid, shall be fined not exceeding fifty dollars, or imprisoned in the county jail not exceeding sixty days, in the discretion of the court before which any indictment may be tried; and the said corporation shall, moreover, be liable for all damages which shall be sustained by any person by reason of such neglect.

All the penalties hereinbefore mentioned may be sued for in the name of the people of the State of New York, by the district attorney of the county wherein the same shall accrue, within ten days thereafter; and in case such district attorney shall omit or neglect to sue for such fine or fines within the time aforesaid, then it may and shall be lawful for any person aggrieved to sue therefor in the name of the overseers of the poor of the town wherein any such fine or fines shall have accrued, which, when recovered, shall be paid to the said overseers of the poor, for the benefit of the poor of said town. And in case such persons shall fail to make out and maintain any such action, it shall be the duty of the court before whom any such action shall be had to enter a judgment against the complainant for the costs of said action.

§ 8. Every railroad corporation, whose line of road is open for use, shall, within three months after the passage of this act, and every railroad company formed or to be formed, but whose lines are not now open for use, shall, before the lines of such railroad are opened, erect and thereafter maintain fences on the sides of their roads, of the height and strength of a division fence, as required by law, with openings or gates or bars therein at the farm crossings of such railroad, for the use of the proprietors of the lands adjoining such railroads, and shall also construct, where the same has not already been done, and hereafter maintain, cattle guards at all road crossings, suitable and sufficient to prevent cattle, horses, sheep and hogs from getting on to such railroad. And so long as such fences and cattle guards shall not be made, and when not in good repair, such railroad corporation and its agents shall be liable for damages which shall be done by the agents or engines of any such corporation to any cattle, horses, sheep or hogs thereon; and when such fences and guards shall

have been duly made, and shall be kept in good repair, such railroad corporation shall not be liable for any such damages, unless negligently or willfully done. A sufficient post and wire fence of requisite height shall be deemed a lawful fence, within the provisions of this section; but no railroad corporation shall be required to fence the sides of its roads, except when such fence is necessary to prevent horses, cattle, sheep and hogs from getting on to the track of the railroad from the lands adjoining the same.

§ 9. But it shall be the duty of every owner of land adjoining any railroad, who has received, or whose grantor has received a specific sum as compensation for fencing along the line of land taken for the purpose of said railroad, and has agreed to build and maintain a lawful fence on the line of said road, to build and maintain such fence; and if said owner, his heir or assign, shall not build said fence within thirty days after he has been notified so to do by the said railroad corporation, or shall neglect to maintain said fences, if built, said corporations shall build and thereafter maintain such fence, and may maintain a civil action against the person so neglecting to build or maintain said fence, to recover the expense thereof.

§ 10. Every railroad company which shall have had unclaimed freight, not perishable, in its possession for a period of one year at least, may proceed to sell the same at public auction, and out of the proceeds may retain the charges of transportation and storage of such freight, and the expenses of advertising and sale thereof; but no such sale shall be made until the expiration of four weeks from the first publication of notice of such sale in the state paper, and also in a newspaper published at or nearest the place at which such freight was directed to be left, and also at the place where such sale is to take place; and said notice shall contain a description of such freight, the place at which and the time when the same was left, as near as may be, together with the name of the owner or person to whom consigned, if known; and the expenses incurred for advertising shall be a lien upon such freight, in a ratable proportion, according to the value of each article or package or parcel, if more than one.

§ 11. In case such unclaimed freight shall, in its nature, be perishable, then the same may be sold as soon as it can be, on giving the notice required in the preceding section, after its receipt at the place where it was directed to be left.

§ 12. Such railroad company shall make an entry of the balance of the proceeds of the sale, if any, of each parcel of freight owned by or consigned to the same person, as near as can be ascertained, and at any time within five years thereafter shall refund any surplus so

retained to the owner of such freight, his heirs or assigns, on satisfactory proof of such ownership.

§ 13. Whenever two railroad companies shall, for a portion of their respective lines, embrace the same location of line, or whenever, by the connection of two or more railroads, the same points of termination are reached by railroad communication, any two such railroads may, by agreement, provide for the construction of so much of said line as is common to both of them by one of the companies, and for the manner and terms upon which the business thereon shall be performed. Any road so connecting may alter and amend its articles of association, so as to terminate at the point of intersection, and may reduce its capital to a sum not less than ten thousand dollars for each mile of the road constructed, or proposed to be constructed in such amended articles of association. This section shall not be so construed as to apply to any railroad company or companies, so far as its or their line of road or roads are within the bounds of any incorporated city of this state.

§ 14. Every railroad corporation in this state shall, within thirty days after this act shall take effect, designate some person, residing in each of the counties through or into which such railroad may run, on whom process to be issued by a justice of the peace may be served, and shall file such designation in the office of the clerk of the county where the person so designated shall reside, and a copy of such designation, duly certified by such clerk, shall be evidence of such appointment, and the service of any process upon the person so designated or named, to be issued by any justice of the peace in any civil action or matter of which such justice may have jurisdiction, shall be as valid and effectual as if served upon the president or any director of any such corporation, as now provided by law.

§ 15. In all cases where such designation shall not be made as aforesaid, and where no officer of such corporation shall reside in the county on whom process can be served according to the existing provisions of law, the process mentioned in the next preceding section may be served on any local superintendent of repairs, freight agent, agent to sell tickets, or station keeper of such corporation, residing in such county, which service shall be as effectual in all respects, as if made on the president or any director of such corporation.

§ 16. The tenth section of the act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations, and to regulate the same," passed April 2, 1850, is hereby amended to read as follows:

§ 10. Each stockholder of any company formed under this act shall be individually liable to the creditors of such company, to an amount

equal to the amount unpaid on the stock held by him, for all the debts and liabilities of such company, until the whole amount of the capital stock so held by him shall have been paid to the company, and all the stockholders of any such company shall be jointly and severally liable for the debts due or owing to any of its laborers and servants, other than contractors, for personal services for thirty days' service performed for such company, but shall not be liable to an action therefor before an execution shall be returned unsatisfied in whole or in part against the corporation, and the amount due on such executions shall be the amount recoverable with costs against such stockholders; before such laborer or servant shall charge such stockholder for such thirty days' services, he shall give him notice in writing, within twenty days after the performance of such service, that he intends so to hold him liable, and shall commence such action therefor within thirty days after the return of such execution, unsatisfied, as above mentioned; and every such stockholder, against whom any such recovery by such laborer or servant shall have been had, shall have a right to recover the same of the other stockholders in said corporation, in ratable proportion to the amount of the stock they shall respectively hold with himself; and all laws whereby the stockholders, officers and agents of any railroad corporation are made individually liable for the debts or liabilities of such corporation beyond the provisions contained in the act entitled "An act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations, and to regulate the same," passed April 2, 1850, and the acts amending the same, are hereby repealed.

§ 17. The directors of any railroad company whose track crosses any of the canals of this state, and the present grade thereof shall be raised in consequence of directions given by the canal commissioners, may, with the assent of the said canal commissioners, lay out a new line of road for the purpose of crossing such canal on a more favorable grade, and may extend such new line and connect the same with any other line of road owned by the same company, and a survey map and certificate of such new or altered line shall be made and filed in the clerk's office of the proper county; and such company shall have the same right and power to acquire title to any lands required for the purposes of such company, under the provisions of this section, as it would have in the location of a line of road in the first instance; and all the provisions of the act hereby amended, relative to acquiring title to land for railroad purposes, shall apply to such new or altered line; and all lands acquired by any railroad company by appraisal, for passenger and freight depots, shall be held by

such company in fee; but no new line or route of road can be laid out and established, as contemplated in this section, in any city or village, unless the same be sanctioned by a vote of two-thirds of the common council of said city, or trustees of said village, nor shall any railroad company be compelled to abandon any existing line of road in consequence of establishing such new line of road.

§ 18. Section thirty-nine of the act hereby amended is repealed, but this repeal shall not affect any action or proceeding heretofore commenced under said section.

19. This act shall take effect immediately.

Chap. 444.

AN ACT further to amend the act entitled, "An act to authorize the formation of railroad corporations and to regulate the same," passed April second, eighteen hundred aud fifty.

Passed April 14, 1857.

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

SECTION 1. It shall be lawful for any mortgagee of any railroad and the franchises thereof, to become the purchaser of the same, at any sale thereof under the mortgage, upon foreclosure by advertisement, or under a judgment, or decree, or otherwise, and to hold, and convey the same, with all the rights and privileges, belonging thereto or connected therewith.

§ 2. Whenever there shall be one or more of the estates enumerated in article one of title two of chapter one of the second part of the Revised Statutes entitled, "Of the creation and division of estates," in any land required by any railroad company for the purpose of its incorporation, such company may acquire such estate and land by means of the special proceedings authorized by the act hereby amended. In every such case the railroad company, in addition to the statements. now required by said act, shall set forth and state in its petition, the facts in relation to any such estate, and the person, persons or class of persons, then in being or not in being, who are or may become entitled in any contingency, to any estate as aforesaid, in such land and may pray that such estate may be acquired, and such persons may be bound by the said proceedings; and thereupon the

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