AN ACT RELATING TO STRAIGHTENED OR IMPROVED LINES OF RAILROAD.

Approved 3d April, 1872. (P. L., 1872, pages 35 and 36.)

SECTION I. That it shall be lawful for the president and directors of any railroad company to retain the possession and use, either in whole or part, of any portion of the original railroad for which an improved or straightened line has been substituted, if in their opinion the abandonment of the said portion would be inconvenient or injurious to the interests of the public and of the railroad company.

AN ACT TO AUTHORIZE

CORPORATIONS ΤΟ ISSUE

PREFERRED STOCK.

Approved 3d April, 1872. (P. L., 1872, pages 37 and 38.)

SECTION 1. That it shall be lawful for any company now or hereafter incorporated by or under any general law of this Commonwealth to issue, with the consent of a majority in interest of its stockholders, preferred stock of the company, not exceeding at any time one-half of the capital stock of the corporation, the holders of which preferred stock shall be entitled to receive such dividends thereon, not exceeding twelve per cent. per annum, as the board of directors of said company may prescribe, payable out of the net earnings of the company; and the holders of said preferred stock shall not be liable for any debts of the company.

AN ACT EXEMPTING THE COUNTIES OF LANCASTER, VENANGO, AND BERKS FROM ALL THE PROVISIONS OF AN ACT ENTITLED "AN ACT RELATING TO CHANGES

OF VENUE," APPROVED APRIL TWENTY-EIGHTH,

ANNO DOMINI ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND SEVENTY.

Approved 3d April, 1872. (P. L., 1872, page 839.)

SECTION I. That from and after the passage of this act the counties of Lancaster, Venango, and Berks shall be exempt

from all of the provisions of an act entitled "An act relating to changes of venue," approved April twenty-eighth, Anno Domini one thousand eight hundred and seventy.

AN ACT SUPPLEMENTAL TO AN ACT ENTITLED "A SUPPLEMENT TO ACTS RELATING TO INCORPORATIONS BY THE COURTS OF COMMON PLEAS," APPROVED ON THE NINTH DAY OF APRIL, ANNO DOMINI ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND FIFTY-SIX.

Approved 4th April, 1872. (P. L., 1872, pages 40 and 41.)

SECTION 1. That the "proper county" intended by said act, approved as aforesaid, may be, at the option of any corporation praying for permission to dissolve in the way and manner in said act designated, either the county in which the principal operations of the corporations are conducted or that county in which its principal office or place of business is located: Provided, That notice of said application shall be given by publication in two papers in the county in which the principal operations are conducted and that in which the principal office is located.

AN ACT RELATING TO EXECUTION ATTACHMENTS.

Approved 5th April, 1872. (P. L., 43.)

SECTION I. That in all cases where execution attachments have been, or which shall hereafter be issued out of any court of common pleas or district court of this Commonwealth, attaching debts, moneys, stocks, or other property in the hands of any persons or corporation as garnishees, and when, from any cause, proceedings have been stayed on the judgment on which such execution attachments have been issued, it shall be lawful for the defendant or defendants in the judgments on which said attachments shall have been issued, to file a bond with one or more sureties, to be approved of by the court

issuing said attachment, in such amount as the court shall direct, conditioned that the defendant shall pay to the plaintiff, on the determination of the case, whatever amount shall finally be adjudged to be due by the garnishees under the said attachments, if such amount shall be required to pay the judgment and costs; and on filing such bond, approved as aforesaid, the said garnishee or garnishees shall thereupon be discharged from all further liability under said attachment; but the cause may be prosecuted to final judgment, for the purpose of ascertaining the amount due by the garnishee; but the defendant, and his sureties in the bond, shall alone be liable to pay such judgments and costs.

SEC. 2. All laws or parts of laws inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed.

AN ACT FOR THE APPOINTMENT OF A RECEIVER IN CASES WHERE CORPORATIONS HAVE BEEN DISSOLVED BY JUDGMENT OF OUSTER, UPON PROCEEDINGS OF QUO WARRANTO.

Approved April 4th, 1872. (P. L., 1872, pages 46 and 47.)

SECTION I. That whenever any corporation incorporated under the laws of this Commonwealth shall have been dissolved by judgment of ouster, upon proceedings of quo warranto in any court of competent jurisdiction, all the estate, both real and personal, of which such corporation are in any way seized or possessed shall pass to and vest in the person who at the time of such dissolution are the officers of such corporation, in trust, to hold the same for the benefit of the stockholders and creditors of the corporation.

SEC. 2. The Supreme Court, or any judge thereof sitting at nisi prius, shall, upon the petition of any stockholder or creditor of such corporation, appoint a receiver, who shall have all the powers of a receiver appointed by a court of chancery, to take possession of all the estate, both real and personal, thereof, and make distribution of the assets among the persons entitled to receive the same according to law:

Provided, That written notice, as may be directed by the court, shall be given to the persons, or a majority of them, who were at the time of the dissolution officers of the corporation, of the intention, time, and place of presenting such petition: And provided further, That it shall be the duty of such receiver to give notice of his appointment, time, and place of meeting to all the stockholders of such corporation, and to advertise the same as the court may direct.

SEC. 3. That the provisions of this act shall also apply to any corporation that has been heretofore dissolved by judgment of ouster upon proceedings of quo warranto in any court of competent jurisdiction, the affairs of which have not been settled and adjusted.

AN ACT RElating to FOREIGN EXECUTORS, ADMINISTRATORS, GUARDIANS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF DECEDENTS AND WARDS.

Approved 8th April, 1872. (P. L., 1872, pages 44 and 45.)

SECTION I. That it shall and may be lawful for any executor, administrator, or other person representing the estate of any decedent, or for any guardian or other legal representative of the estate of a minor, acting under letters testamentary or of administration or other authority, granted by or under the laws of any other State or territory of the United States, or of any kingdom, state, sovereignty, or country, to transfer any or all shares of stock and registered loan, or either, of any incorporated company of this Commonwealth, standing in the name of any decedent, minor, or cestui que trust, and to receive the dividends and interest, or either thereof, whenever a duly authenticated copy of the will or other grant of authority under which such transfer or receipt is proposed to be made shall have been filed in the office of the register of wills for the county in which such incorporated company has its transfer office or principal place of business; and all transfers of stock or loans or receipts for dividends or interest heretofore made by foreign executor, administrator, guardian, and others acting as aforesaid, are hereby validated.

AN ACT FOR THE BETTER PROTECTION OF THE WAGES OF MECHANICS, MINERS, LABORERS, AND OTHERS.

Approved 9th April, 1872, (P. L., 1872, pages 47 and 49.)

SECTION 1. That all moneys that may be due, or hereafter become due, for labor and services rendered by any miner, mechanic, laborer, or clerk,* from any person or persons, or chartered company employing clerks, miners, mechanics, or laborers, either as owners, lessees, contractors, or underowners of any works, mines, manufactory, or other business where clerks, miners, or mechanics are employed, whether at so much per diem or otherwise, for any period not exceeding six months immediately preceding the sale and transfer of such works, mines, manufactories, or business, or other property connected therewith, in carrying on said business, by execution or otherwise, preceding the death or insolvency of such employer or employers, shall be a lien upon said mine, manufactory, business, or other property in and about or used in carrying on the said business or in connection therewith, to the extent of the interest of said owners or contractors, as the case may be, in said property, and shall be preferred and first paid out of the proceeds of the sale of such mine, manufactory, business, or other property as aforesaid: Provided, That the claim of such miner, mechanic, laborer, and clerk thus preferred shall not exceed two hundred dollars: And provided further, That this act shall not be so construed as to impair contracts existing or liens of record vested prior to its passage: And provided further, That no such claim shall be a lien upon any real estate, unless the same be filed in the prothonotary's office of the county in which such real estate is situated, within three months after the same becomes due and owing, in the same manner as mechanics' liens are now filed.

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* Section I was amended by act of June 13th, 1883, to include, also, servant girls at hotels, boarding-houses, restaurants, or in private families, or other servants and helpers in and about said houses of entertainment and private houses, porters, hostlers, all persons employed in and about livery stables, laundrymen and washerwomen, seamsters and seamstresses employed by merchant tailors, milliners, dressmakers, clothiers, shirt manufacturers, and clerks employed in stores, hands, laborers, mechanics, printers, apprentices, hired for wages or salary."