lode or mines claimed to have been drained, the cost of such examination and inspection to be borne by the party applying therefor. The court or judge shall have power to cause the removal of any rock, débris, or other obstacles in any lode or vein, when such removal is shown to be necessary to a just determination of the question involved: Provided, That no such order for inspection and examination shall be made, except in open court or at chambers, upon notice of application for such order of at least three days, and not then except by agreement of parties, nor unless it appears that the plaintiff has been refused the privilege of making the inspection and examination by the defendant, his or their agent.

SEC. 6. That hereafter, when any person or persons or corporation shall be engaged in mining or milling, and in the prosecution of such business shall hoist or raise water from mines or natural channels, and the same shall flow away from the premises of such persons or corporations to any natural channel or gulch, the same shall be considered beyond the control of the party so hoisting or raising the same, and may be taken and used by other parties the same as that of natural water-courses.

SEC. 7. After any such water shall have been so raised, and the same shall have flown into any such natural channel, gulch, or draw, the party so hoisting or raising the same shall only be liable for injury caused thereby, in the same manner as riparian owners along natural water-courses.

SEC. 8. The provisions of this act shall not be construed to apply to incipient or undeveloped mines, but to those only which shall have been opened and shall clearly derive a benefit from being drained.

SEC. 9. In trial of cases arising under this act the court shall admit evidence of the normal stand or position of the water while at rest in an idle mine; also, the observed prevalence of a common water-level or a standing water-line in the same or separate lodes; also, the effect (if any) the elevating or depressing the water by natural or mechanical means in any given lode has upon elevating or depressing the water in the same, contiguous, or separate lodes or mine; also, the effect which draining or ceasing to drain any given lode or mine had upon the water in the same or contiguous or separate lodes or mines, and all other evidence which tends to prove the common ingress or subterraneous communication of water into the same lode or mine, or contiguous or separate lodes or mines.

CHAP. XIV.-COAL-MINES.

AN ACT to compel owners of coal-mines to fence their slack piles and abandoned pits. (Approved February 2, 1877; Gen. Laws, p. 126.) SECTION 1. That the owner or operators of coal-mines from which fine or slack coal is taken and piled upon the surface of the ground, in such quantities as to produce spontaneous combustion, shall fence said ground in such manner as to prevent loose cattle or horses from having access to such slack piles.

SEC. 2. All owners of lands having abandoned coal pits or shafts on the same, of sufficient depth to endanger the life of cattle, horses, or other stock, shall fence or fill said pits or shafts in such a manner as to afford permanent protection to all such stock endangered thereby.

SEC. 3. Every person violating sections one (1) and two (2) of this act shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and shall be fined in a sum not less than twenty (20) dollars nor more than one hundred (100) dollars, to be collected as other fines are collected, and shall be further liable to any party injured thereby in the amount of the actual injury sustained.

CHAP. XV.-COMMISSIONER OF MINES.

AN ACT to establish the office of commissioner of mines, and to repeal an act entitled "An act to establish a territorial assay office", approved January 10, 1868; also "An act to establish assay offices in Colorado territory", approved February 8, 1872; also "An act to establish assay offices in Colorado territory", approved February 10, 1874; also "An act to amend an act entitled 'An act to establish assay offices in Colorado territory'", approved February 11, 1876. (Approved April 13, 1877; Gen. Laws, p. 126.) NOTE.-See act approved February 8, 1879, Stats., p. 158; also act approved April 7, 1877, Gen. Laws, p. 803.

SECTION 1. The production and reduction of ores being a leading industry of the people of Colorado, and being pursuits in which all are interested and from which all derive benefit, and reliable statistical information of values concerning mines and milling being only accessible through the ministerial powers of the state, therefore, in accordance with the provisions of section 1 of article 16 of the constitution of the state of Colorado, the office of commissioner of mines is hereby established.

SEC. 2. There shall be appointed by the governor of the state, with the advice and consent of the senate, a commissioner of mines, who shall be a person known to be competent, theoretically and practically acquainted with mining and the treatment of ores, whose term of office shall be four (4) years, unless sooner removed for good cause, and whose office shall be at the state school of mines, at Golden: Provided, That when a vacancy shall exist in the foregoing office, and the senate shall not be in session, the governor shall have power to appoint said commissioner of mines, who shall perform the duties and receive the compensation of such office, as hereafter

provided, until the next session of the general assembly, when the governor shall submit such appointment to the senate for their approval or rejection.

SEC. 3. The commissioner of mines shall have a seal bearing the words "Commissioner of Mines of the State of Colorado", which shall be kept by him expressly for the use of his office, and said seal shall be affixed to official documents only.

SEC. 4. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of mines to collect reliable statistical information concerning the production and reduction of all precious or useful minerals in this state; to examine the different processes for the treatment of ores used in this state, and to inquire into the merits of other processes alleged or demonstrated by practical experience elsewhere to be the most successful; to inquire into the relative merits of the various inventions, machines, mechanical contrivances, now in use, or which may be hereafter introduced, for mining and metallurgical purposes.

SEC. 5. The commissioner of mines shall have power and authority, either in person or by a duly-appointed deputy, to visit and examine any mine, or piece of mining ground, for the purpose of ascertaining the condition of the same, in regard to its safety and means of egress from the same, and, for this purpose, shall have access to any and all levels, stopes, tunnels, winzes, shafts, and shaft power of any mine for the purpose of said inspection.

SEC. 6. Whenever the commissioner of mines, or his duly-authorized deputy, shall receive a formal complaint in writing, signed by two or more persons, setting forth that the mine in which they are employed is dangerous in any respect, he shall visit and examine such mine, and if from such personal examination he shall ascertain that the facilities for egress are insufficient, or that from want of timbering, scaling, or slacking of the ground in such mines so visited, or from other causes, or that the timbers, ladders, ladder-ways, pentices, or plats in any such mine are in a dangerous condition, it shall become his duty to notify the owners, lessor, or lessee thereof, such notice to be in writing, and to be served by copy on any person or persons, in the same manner as provided by law for the serving of legal notices or process; said notice shall state in what particular such egress is insufficient, or in what particulars timbers, ladders, ladder-ways, pentices, or plats are dangerous, and shall require the necessary changes to be made without unnecessary delay. And in case any criminal or civil procedure at law against the party or parties so notified, on account of loss of life or bodily injury sustained by any employé subsequent to such notice, and in consequence of a neglect to obey the commissioner's requirement, a certified copy of the notice served by the commissioner shall be prima facie evidence of the culpable negligence of the party or parties so complained of. SEC. 7. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of mines to keep on file in his office reports and papers, which may be published from time to time, and all correspondence on the subject of mining and milling and reducing ores, with a view to eliciting and collecting such information for the public use; he shall address circulars to corporations and individuals engaged in mining, and shall correspond with the school of mines in other states and elsewhere in reference to mining, metallurgy, etc.

SEC. 8. It shall be the duty of said commissioner to collect, arrange, and classify mineral and geological specimens found in this state, and to keep the same in a department of reference and study in the state school of mines; he shall also, by analysis or assay, determine the character and value of the same.

giving

SEC. 9. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of mines to assay, or cause to be assayed and analyzed in the laboratory of the state school of mines, specimens of the different ores, minerals, metals, coals, and mineral water mined or obtained in this state, whenever requested so to do; he shall keep a permanent record of the same, the name of the county, mining district, lode, ledge, deposit, vein, or spring, whenever obtained, together with the value and contents thereof; for such assay or analysis the commissioner of mines shall charge for each and every analysis, assay, or test, as follows:

He shall keep a correct account of all moneys received from such assays or analysis, and the sum shall be paid by him into the state treasury monthly, and used solely for the fund of the commissioner of mines and state school of mines, and in case of the failure or neglect of the commissioner of mines to keep the record, or to pay into the state treasury all money received by him for analysis, assays, and tests, as required by this section, he shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and may, upon conviction thereof, be punished by fine not to exceed [five hundred dollars] $500, said fine to be recovered in any court of competent jurisdiction, and paid into the state treasury for the benefit of the school of mines.

SEC. 10. It shall be the duty of the commissioner of mines, at least once in each year, either in person or by a duly-authorized deputy, to visit each mining county in the state, and examine as many of the mines in the different counties as practicable.

SEC. 11. The commissioner of mines shall report to the governor of the state, on or before the fifteenth of January in each year, for the year ending on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year, which report shall contain all statements of accounts, moneys received and expended, statistics, and other information which may tend to promote the development of the mineral resources of the state.

SEC. 12. He shall, at least once during every six months after the date of his appointment, examine carefully the principal coal-mines being worked in this state, as to the safety of the workings, the condition of the air in the mines, and the best means of ventilation; the amount of coal excavated, and whether children under fourteen years of age are permitted to work in such coal-mines; which facts he shall faithfully report, with recommendations, in his annual report; and for the purpose of making full and thorough examinations he shall have access to all workings in any coal-mine owned or worked by any corporation or individuals in this state, and is hereby authorized and required to inspect and examine such mine in all its workings. To facilitate such examination, all corporations and individuals working coal-mines in the state shall keep a true and complete plat of all the workings of such coalmines, with explanatory notes, showing the method of ventilation in such mine, which plat shall be corrected every four months; any agent or superintendent of any corporation, or individual working coal-mines in this state, who shall refuse to permit said commissioner of mines to examine such mine, or who shall neglect to keep a correct plat of the workings of such mine, or who shall employ or permit to be employed in such coal-mine any children under fourteen years of age, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred (500) dollars, or by imprisonment not exceeding one year for each offense.

SEC. 13. The commissioner of mines shall devote his entire time to the duties of his office, and shall receive a salary of three thousand (3,000) dollars per annum, and with the consent of the governor of the state shall appoint a deputy commissioner of mines, at a salary not exceeding twelve hundred (1,200) dollars per annum; that on and after the year 1877 the salary of the commissioner and deputy commissioner of mines and assistant, as well as the contingent expenses of the same, shall be paid out of the fund provided for the support of the school of mines. The deputy commissioner shall be under the direction and control of the commissioner, who may remove him for good cause. He shall also appoint as assistant commissioner of mines the professor in charge of the school of mines at Golden, at a salary of seven hundred (700) dollars per annum, in addition to his pay as said professor. The duties of the assistant commissioner shall be to act as deputy commissioner in the absence of the commissioner, to take charge of the state cabinet, and to make the assays and analyses required in sections eight (8) and nine (9) of this

act.

SEC. 14. The above salaries to be paid monthly, and contingent expenses to be paid on presentation of vouchers certified to under oath by the commissioner of mines; and the auditor shall draw his warrants accordingly: Provided, That the amount of contingent expenses for any one year shall not exceed two thousand three hundred (2,300) dollars.

SEC. 15. The different acts to establish assay offices in the territory of Colorado, approved January 10, 1868, and February 11, 1874, and 1876, also that part of section two (2) of "An act to provide for the several expenses of the years 1876 and 1877, approved February 11, 1876, relating to the appropriation for paying the salaries of the territorial assayers", and all other acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act, are hereby repealed.

SEC. 16. All property belonging to the state that is in the possession of the territorial assayers shall be turned over to the commissioner of mines.

NOTE. This chapter (XV) repealed by act of 1881. (Stats., p. 62.)

CHAP. XIX.-CORPORATIONS.

AN ACT to provide for the formation of corporations. (Approved March 14, 1877; Gen. Laws, p. 143.)

SECTION 1. That corporations may be formed under the provisions of this act for any lawful purpose, but the corporate name of every corporation hereafter organized (except banks and corporations not for pecuniary profit) shall commence with the word "the" and end with the word "corporation", "company," "association," or "society", and shall indicate by its corporate name the business to be carried on by said corporation.

SEC. 2. At any time hereafter any three or more persons (except as hereinafter provided) who may desire to form a company for the purpose of carrying on any lawful business, may make, sign, and acknowledge, before some officer competent to take the acknowledgments of deeds, certificates in writing, in which shall be stated the corporate name of said company, the objects for which the company shall be created, the amount of the capital stock of said company, the term of its existence, not to exceed twenty years, except as hereinafter provided, save and except to make perpetual, corporations insuring lives of individuals, which have been heretofore or may be hereafter organized under the laws of Colorado, the number of shares of which the said stock shall consist, the number of directors or trustees of said company, and the names of those who shall manage the affairs of such company for the first year of its existence, the name of the town, or place, and the county in which the principal office of the company shall be kept, and the name of the county or counties in which the principal business shall be carried on; and they shall

make as many such certificates as may be necessary, so as to file one in the office of the recorder of deeds in each of such county or counties and one in the office of the secretary of state; and when any company shall be created under the laws of this state for the purpose of carrying on part of its business beyond the limits thereof, such certificate shall state that fact, and shall also state the name of the town and county in this state in which the principal office of said company shall be kept, and shall state the name of the county in which the principal business of such company is to be carried on within this state.

SEC. 3. When the certificates shall have been filed as aforesaid, the secretary of state shall record and carefully preserve the same in his office, and a copy thereof, duly certified by the secretary of state under the great seal of the state of Colorado, shall be evidence of the existence of such company, but no certificate shall be filed or received for two corporations bearing the same name.

SEC. 4. Corporations formed under this act shall be bodies corporate and politic in fact and in name, by the name stated in such certificate, and by that name have succession for the period for which they are organized; may, in any court of law or equity in this state, sue and be sued; may have a common seal, which they may alter or renew at pleasure, by filing an impression of the same in the office of the secretary of state; may own, possess, and enjoy so much real and personal estate as shall be necessary for the transaction of their business, whether acquired by purchase, grant, devise, gift, or otherwise, and may from time to time sell and dispose of the same or any part thereof when not required for the use of the corporation. They may borrow money and pledge their franchises and property, both real and personal, to secure the payment thereof; and may have and exercise all the powers necessary and requisite to carry into effect the objects for which they may be formed, as named in their certificate of incorporation. SEC. 5. The shares of stock shall not be less than ten (10) nor more than one hundred (100) dollars each, and shall be deemed personal property and transferable as such in the manner provided by the by-laws; and subscriptions therefor shall be made payable to the corporation, and shall be payable in such installments and at such time or times as shall be determined by the directors or trustees; and an action may be maintained in the name of the corporation to recover any installment which shall remain due and unpaid for the period of twenty (20) days after personal demand therefor, or, in cases where personal demand is not made, within thirty (30) days after a written or printed demand has been deposited in the post-office properly addressed to the post-office address of such delinquent stockholder. The directors or trustees may by by-laws prescribe for a forfeiture or sale of stock on failure to pay the installments or assessments that may from time to time become due, but no forfeiture of stock, or of the amounts paid thereon, shall be declared as against any estate, or against any stockholder, before demand shall have been made for the amount due thereon, either in person or by a written or printed notice duly mailed to the last known address of such stockholder, at least thirty (30) days prior to the time when such forfeiture is to take effect: Provided, That the proceeds of any sale over and above the amount due on said shares shall be paid to the delinquent stockholder.

SEC. 6. The corporate powers shall be exercised by a board of directors or trustees of not less than three nor more than thirteen, who shall respectively be stockholders in said company, and who shall (except the first year) be annually elected by the stockholders, at such time and place as shall be directed by the by-laws of the company; and public notice of the time and place of holding such elections shall be published, not less than ten days previous thereto, in the newspaper printed nearest to the place where the operations of the said company shall be carried on, and the election shall be made by such of the stockholders as shall attend for that purpose, either in person or by proxy: Provided, A majority of the stock is represented. If a majority of the stock shall not be represented, such meeting may be adjourned by the stockholders present for a period not exceeding sixty days. All elections shall be by ballot, and each stockholder shall be entitled to as many votes as he owns shares of stock in the said company; and the persons receiving the greatest number of votes shall be directors or trustees, who shall hold their offices until their successors are elected and qualified, and when any vacancy shall happen among the directors or trustees, by death, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be filled for the remainder of the year as shall be provided by the by-laws of said company.

SEC. 7. In case it should happen at any time that an election of directors or trustees shall not be held on the day designated by the by-laws of said company, when it ought to have been held, the company for that reason shall not be dissolved, but it shall be proper to elect such directors or trustees on any subsequent day as shall be prescribed by the by-laws.

SEC. 8. The directors or trustees shall elect one of their number to be president, and may elect or appoint such subordinate officers as the company may by its by-laws designate, and such subordinate officers shall, if required by the company, give security for the faithful discharge of their official duties.

SEC. 9. The stockholders of any corporation formed under the provisions of this act, or the directors or trustees, if the certificate of incorporation so provide, shall have power to make such prudential by-laws as they deem proper for the management of the affairs of the company, not inconsistent with the laws of this state, for the purpose of carrying on all kinds of business within the objects and purpose of such company.

SEC. 10. It shall not be lawful for such corporations to use any of their funds for the purchase of stock in their own company or corporation, except such as may be forfeited from the non-payment of assessments thereon, except as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 11. Each stockholder shall be liable for the debts of the corporation to the extent of the amount that may be unpaid upon the stock held by him, to be collected in the manner herein provided. Whenever any action is brought to recover any indebtedness against the corporation, it shall be competent to proceed against any one or more stockholders at the same time to the extent of the balance unpaid by such stockholders upon the stock owned by them respectively, whether called in or not, as in cases of garnishment.

SEC. 12. The president and a majority of the directors or trustees, within sixty days after the payment of the last installment of the capital stock, so fixed and limited by the company, shall make a certificate stating the amount of the capital so fixed and paid in, which certificate shall be signed and sworn to by the president and a majority of the directors or trustees, and they shall, within the said sixty days, record the same in the office of the secretary of state, and a copy in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county wherein the business of the said company is carried on.

NOTE.-Section 12 amended by act approved February 8, 1879, Session Laws, p. 38. See also further amendment of this act by act above referred to.

SEC. 13. It shall be the duty of the directors or trustees of every corporation, except railroad and telegraph companies, to cause to be kept at its principal office or place of business in this state correct books of account of all its business, and any stockholder in such corporation shall have the right, at all reasonable times, to inspect and examine all the books, accounts, and papers of the corporation, and shall have the right, as aforesaid, to demand of any officer, clerk, cashier, or agent of any such corporation having in his control or custody any such books, accounts, or papers as such stockholder may desire to examine or inspect; and upon such demand being made in writing, every such officer, clerk, cashier, or agent shall be bound to produce such books, accounts, and papers to such stockholder, and afford due opportunity to examine and inspect the same; and such stockholders shall have the right to take copies or make extracts therefrom, but shall not remove from the office of the corporation any such books, accounts, and papers. In case of refusal or neglect by any such offi cer, clerk, cashier, or agent to exhibit the same, or to allow the same to be inspected, and copies or extracts to be taken therefrom by any stockholder making such request, or who shall secrete, conceal, or destroy any books, accounts, or papers, or who shall prevent, or endeavor to prevent, a full inspection of the same, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and be liable to a penalty of two hundred dollars, or such less sum as a court or jury may find, to be recovered by action of debt, at suit of the person aggrieved, against the person offending, in the district court of the county where the principal office of such corporation is located.

SEC. 14. All assessments or installments of the stock of any stock corporation shall be levied by the directors or trustees in accordance with the provisions of the by-laws, except as hereinafter provided; but any assessments or installments required to be paid shall be levied pro rata upon all shares of such stock, except as hereinafter provided.

SEC. 15. The directors or trustees of any corporation may purchase mines, manufactories, and other property necessary for their business, and issue stock to the amount of the value thereof in payment therefor; and the stock so issued shall be declared and taken to be full-paid stock and not liable to any further calls or assessments, except as hereinafter provided; neither shall the stockholders thereof be liable to any further payments under the provisions of section eleven (11) of this act, but in all statements and reports of the company this stock shall not be stated or reported as being issued for cash paid in to the company, but shall be reported in this respect according to the facts.

SEC. 16. Every such corporation shall annually, within sixty days from the first day of January, make a report which shall state the amount of its capital and the proportion actually paid in, and the amount of existing debts, which report shall be signed by the president and shall be verified by the oath of the president or secretary of said company, under its corporate seal, and filed in the office of the recorder of deeds of the county where the business of the company shall be carried on, and if any such corporation shall fail so to do, unless the capital stock of said corporation has been fully paid in and a certificate made and filed as provided in section twelve (12) of this act, all the directors or trustees of the company shall be jointly and severally liable for all the debts of the company that shall be contracted during the year next preceding the time when such report should by this section have been made and filed, and until such report shall be made.

SEC. 17. If the directors, trustees, or other officers or agents of any corporation shall declare and pay any dividend when such corporation is insolvent, or any dividend the payment of which would render it insolvent, or which would diminish the amount of its capital stock, all directors, trustees, agents, or officers assenting thereto shall be jointly and severally liable for all debts of such corporation then existing, and for all that shall thereafter be contracted while the capital remains so diminished.

SEC. 18. The by-laws of every corporation shall provide for the calling of meetings of the directors or trustees, and when such directors or trustees shall be present at any meeting, however called or notified, or shall sign a written consent thereto on the record of such meeting, the acts of such meeting shall be as valid as if called and notified: Provided, That unless it shall be stated in the certificate of incorporation that meetings of the directors or trustees may be held beyond the limits of this state, or unless such meeting was authorized or its acts ratified by