CHARTER 
 
 OF 
 
 The City of Charleston 
 
 WEST VIRGINIA - 
 
 AS AMENDED BY LEGISLATURE OF 1919 
 
 * * 
 
 AN ACT to amend and re-enact sections three, four, fiye, nine, ten, 
 eleven, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, thirty-five, thirty-six, fifty-one, 
 seventy-five, eighty-eight and ninety-three of chapter one of the 
 acts of the legislature of one thousand nine hundred and fifteen 
 and bound in a volume of municipal charters of such acts and 
 known as the “Charter of the City of Charleston/ 5 and to add 
 
 r 
 
 sections ninety-four, ninety-five, ninety-six, ninety-seven and 
 ninety-eight, ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one and 
 one hundred and two, all relating to and becoming a part of the 
 charter of the city of Charleston. 
 
 TRIBUNE PRINTING CO., CHARLESTON, W. VA. 
 
 1919 
 
RULES 
 
 "b 5 ’L.O'T.S A 
 
 e.'ist 
 
 REMOTE STORAGE 
 
 BOQKSHTACKS OEEiCE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 Council of the City of Charleston 
 
 Rule 1. The Council shall meet in regular public session at the 
 council chamber in the City Building, at the hour of 8 o’clock, P. M., on 
 the first and third Mondays of each month. Special meetings may be 
 called as provided in the City Charter. 
 
 Rule 2. The Mayer, or President Pro Tern, of the Council, as the case 
 may be, having assumed the chair and a quorum being present, the jour¬ 
 nal of the proceedings of the previous meeting shall be read to the end 
 that any alterations or corrections may be submitted and entered of 
 record. 
 
 Rule 3. The Chief of Police shall attend all meetings of the Council 
 in the capacity of Sergeant-at-Arms; he shall, under directions of the 
 presiding officer, aid in the enforcement of good order and decorum, to¬ 
 gether with all process as shall issue under authority of council. 
 
 Rule 4. The presiding officer of the Council may call a member to 
 the chair, who shall exercise its functions for the time being. Any 
 number of the council, less than a quorum, which may meet at any 
 regular or special session, may compel the attendance of absent members 
 of the Council. 
 
 Rule 5. The Council shall have nine standing committees, which shall 
 he designated as follows: Committee on Rules, Committee on Public 
 Safety, Committee on Police, Committee on Finance, Committee on 
 Streets, Committee on Claims, Committee on Water Works, Committee 
 on Ordinances and Committee on Cemetery. All Committees to consist 
 of five members except Committee on Claims, Committee on Ordinance 
 and Commitee on Cemetery. The Committees on Public Safety, Police, 
 Finance, Streets and Water Works to be appointed by resolution of 
 Council; the Committees on Rules, Claims, Ordinances and Cemetery 
 to be appointed by the Mayor. 
 
 Rule 6. When an ordinance is offered, the City Clerk shall present 
 and read the same in full, and the same may be approved, ratified, 
 amended or rejected by a roll call vote as provided by law. 
 
 Rule 7. The rules of parliamentary statute comprised in “Robert's 
 Rules of Order, by Col. Henry M. Roberts,” shall govern the Council in 
 all cases not provided for by the rules of Council and the City Charter. 
 In any case not governed by the said manual or the said rules, the city 
 shall be governed by the practice in the House of Delegates of the State 
 of West Virginia. 
 
 Rule 8. The City Clerk shall be the Clerk and the custodian of all 
 records and papers of the Council. 
 
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 Rule 9. All records of the Council shall be authenticated by the signa¬ 
 ture of the Mayor attested by the signature of the City Clerk. 
 
 Rule 10. All motions and resolutions, if desired by the presiding 
 
 officer, or any member, shall be reduced to writing and shall be read 
 
 by the City Clerk before the same shall be debated. 
 
 Rule 11. If the previous question be demanded by not less than three 
 members, the presiding officer shall, without debate, put the question: 
 “Shall the main question be now put?” If this question be decided in 
 the affirmative, all further debate shall cease and the vote be at once 
 taken on the proposition pending before the Council. When the Council 
 refuses to order the main question, the consideration of the subject shall 
 be resumed as if the previous question had not been demanded. 
 
 Rule 12. No question shall be debated until it has been propounded 
 
 by the Chair; and then the mover shall have the right to explain his 
 
 view in preference to any other member. 
 
 Rule 13. When two or more members arise at the same time, the 
 Chair shall name the person to speak; but in all cases the member who 
 shall first rise and address the Chair shall speak first. 
 
 Rule 14. No one shall disturb or interrupt a member who is speaking, 
 without his permission, except to call to order, if he be transgressing 
 the rules. 
 
 Rule 15. No member shall speak more than twice to the same ques¬ 
 tion, nor more than five minutes without leave of the Council. 
 
 Rule 16. No standing rule or order of the Council shall be rescinded, 
 suspended or changed except by a majority vote of the members elected 
 to Council. 
 
 Rule 16-u. If any amendments are made to any proposed ordinance 
 at the meeting at which it is taken up for consideration and final 
 action, such ordinance shall not be passed at the same meeting at 
 which it is so considered; provided, further, however, that after all parts 
 and sections of such ordinance shall have been considered and any amend¬ 
 ments to such ordinance, no further amendments thereto shall be made 
 at any subsequent meeting, except by unanimous consent of all members 
 of Council present at such subsequent meeting. 
 
 Rule 16-b. All ordinances introduced in Council shall be typewritten 
 on one side only of plain white paper. 
 
 Rule 17. The order of business for each meeting shall be: 
 
 1. Roll call. 
 
 2. To read, correct and approve the minutes of previous meetings. 
 
 3. To receive and dispose of communications. 
 
 4. To receive resolutions and petitions. 
 
 5. To receive reports of standing committees and other officers. 
 
 6. To receive reports of special committees. 
 
 7. Ordinances introduced and referred to appropriate committees. 
 
 8. Unfinished and miscellaneous business. 
 
 9. Roll call and adjournment. 
 
CHARLESTON CHARTER 
 
 Amended by Act of Legislature, Session of 1915; as Amended Session 
 
 of 1919. In Effect From Passage. 
 
 Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia: 
 
 That chapter two of the acts of the legislature of West Virginia, 
 session one thousand nine hundred and nine, as amended by chapter 
 eighty-four of the acts of one thousand nine hundred and eleven, 
 granting a charter to the city of Charleston, and amending the same, 
 be and the same is hereby amended and re-enacted, so as to read as 
 follows: 
 
 The City of Charleston. 
 
 Section 1. The inhabitants of all that part of the county of 
 Kanawha included and centered within the limits hereinafter pre¬ 
 scribed in section two are hereby made a city corporate and body 
 politic by the name of “The City of Charleston,” and as such city it 
 shall have perpetual succession and a common seal, and by that name 
 it may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and may purchase, 
 hold, lease or sell real estate and personal property necessary to the 
 discharge of its corporate duties, or needful or convenient for the 
 good order, government and welfare of said corporation. 
 
 Corporation Limits' 
 
 Sec. 2. The corporate territorial limits of the city of Charleston 
 shall comprise all that part of the territory of the magisterial districts 
 of Charleston and Loudon in the county of Kanawha and State of 
 West Virginia, which is bounded and described as follows, to-wit: 
 Beginning at the lower or west property line of Patrick street at its 
 intersection of the Kanawha river at low water mark, in Charleston 
 district; thence following the property lines on the west side of said 
 street northeast to a point on the northeast side of the Charleston 
 and Point Pleasant Turnpike, common corner to Littlepage and Gard¬ 
 ner lands; thence with the line dividing the land of Littlepage and 
 Gardner up the hill six hundred feet from the northeast side of 
 Charleston and Point Pleasant Turnpike to a stake; thence with a 
 
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 straight line in an easterly direction to a stake at the extreme northern 
 end of Carr street; thence with a straight line in an easterly direction 
 to Magazine Road, or‘Magazine Branch, at a point on the southeastern 
 corner of a lot belonging to W. A. Hoffman; thence with a line of 
 same across Magazine Road up the hill fifty feet to a stake; thence in 
 a southerly direction parallel with Magazine Road fifty feet from the 
 east side of said road to a point within two hundred feet of the 
 Crescent Road; thence in a line two hundred feet distant and parallel 
 with the Crescent Road to Gill Hollow; thence with the Gill Hollow 
 with a line extended across the Elk river to low water mark on the 
 east side thereof; thence down said Elk river at low water mark to 
 a point in the center of Coal Branch; thence in a line up the hill to 
 the rear of the Capitol Hill property, as shown on the map of same 
 and recorded in the office of the clerk of the county court of Kanawha 
 county; thence with a line so as to include that part of Spring Hill 
 cemetery now under fence and with the old Scruggs 5 line to the line 
 of the Walks property; thence by a line to a point in Ruffner Hollow 
 two hundred feet from Piedmont Road; thence in an easterly direction 
 parallel with the Piedmont Road and two hundred feet northeast of 
 same to the center of the branch in Wilson’s Hollow on the center 
 line of the culvert under the Kanawha and Michigan railroad, ex¬ 
 tending thence with the said center line of said culvert extended to 
 low water mark in the Kanawha river; thence with a low water mark 
 of Kanawha river to a point opposite Porter’s Hollow; thence across 
 said river to the mouth of said hollow in Loudon district; thence up 
 Porter’s Hollow south 53 degrees 30 minutes west 427.6 feet; south' 
 47 degrees west 200 feet; north 73 degrees west 215 feet; south 84 
 degrees 30 minutes west 490 feet; south 47 degrees west 475 feet; 
 south 23 degrees 30 minutes west 500 feet; south 49 degrees 9 minutes 
 west 185 feet; 23 degrees 30 minutes west 165 feet; south 56 de¬ 
 grees west 200 feet; south 75 degrees 30 minutes west 230 feet; 
 north 59 degrees 30 minutes west 322 feet; north 78 degrees .09 
 minutes west 151 feet; north 89 degrees 30 minutes west 174.9 feet; 
 north 69 degrees 45 minutes west 416 feet; north 74 degrees west 
 1005 feet; north 85 degrees west 340 feet; south 88 degrees west 
 510 feet; south 44 degrees 30 minutes west 279 feet; south 50 de¬ 
 grees west 260 feet; thence leaving Porter’s Hollow north 70 degrees 
 west 307% feet; north 47 degrees west 94% feet; thence with the 
 line of lands of South Side Improvement Company and James Pauline 
 north 33 degrees 30 minutes west 180 feet to the corner of said James 
 Pauline’s fence; thence north 35 degrees 30 minutes east 565 feet; 
 
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 north 36 degrees west 495 feet; north 4 degrees west 225 feet; nortti 
 75 degrees west 275 feet; thence with the meanders of the eastern 
 side of the main county road north 18 degrees east 175 feet; thence 
 leaving said >road north 71 degrees 30 minutes west 649 feet; south 
 71 degrees 30 minutes west 138 feet; south 64 degrees 30 minutes 
 west 200 feet, to the line on the properties of the South Side Improve¬ 
 ment Company and Augustus Pauline, to the corner of said Pauline’s 
 fence; north 68 degrees 30 minutes west 234 feet; north 34 degrees 
 20 minutes west 180 feet; north 81 degrees west 130 feet, north 29 
 degrees 30 minutes west 195 feet; north 21 degrees west 130 feet; 
 north 8 degrees 15 minutes east 660 feet; north 7 degrees west 
 264 2-5 feet; north 1 degree 30 minutes west 215 feet; north 15 de¬ 
 grees west 140 feet; north 7 degrees 30 minutes east 194.1 feet; north 
 29 degrees east 370 feet; north 31 degrees east 349.7 feet; north IS 
 degrees west 390 feet; north 37 degrees 30 minutes west 280 feet; 
 north 40 degrees 30 minutes west 200 feet; north 30 degrees 30 
 minutes east 315 feet; north 1 degree 30 minutes east 294 feet; north 
 50 degrees 34 minutes east 200 feet; north 41 degrees east 781 feet; 
 north 79 degrees east 400 feet; north 1 degree 30 minutes west 810 
 feet to low water mark on the said Kanawha river, at the mouth of 
 Ferry Branch; thence down the Kanawha river at low water mark 
 on the south side of said river to a point opposite the lower or west 
 line of said Patrick street; thence across the Kanawha river to a 
 point opposite said line of Patrick street at low water mark on the 
 north side of said river, to the place of beginning. 
 
 Boundaries of Wards. 
 
 Sec. 3. The said city shall be divided into fifteen (15) wards , 
 the boundaries of which shall be as follows: 
 
 First Ward: The First Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at low water mark on the Kanaivha river 
 at the end of Florida street; thence with Florida street to 
 Charleston street, and in a continuous straight line to the cor¬ 
 poration line on the north; thence with the corporation line to 
 Patrick street , and with Patrick street to the Kanawha river; 
 and with the Kanawha river to the end of Florida street; the 
 place of beginning. 
 
 Second Ward: The Second Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark at the end of Florida 
 street; thence with the Kanawha river to the end of Park 
 
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 avenue extended; thence with Park avenue to the corporation 
 line; thence with the corporation line to the northeastern corner 
 of the First Ward; thence with the eastern line of Ward One in 
 a straight line with Florida street, to the low water mark in 
 Kanawha river to place of beginning. 
 
 Third Ward: The Third Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in the Kanawha 
 river at the end of Park avenue extended; thence with the Kan¬ 
 awha river to Delaware avenue; thence with Delaware avenue to 
 the Kanawha & Michigan railway; thence with the Kanawha & 
 Michigan railway to Charleston street; thence with Charleston 
 street to Carr street; thence with Carr street to the corporation 
 lines on the north; thence with the corporation lines to the 
 northeastern corner of Ward Two; thence following the eastern 
 line of Ward Two to low water mark in Kanawha river, the place 
 of beginning. 
 
 Fourth Ward: The Fourth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Kanawha river 
 at the end of Delaware avenue; thence ivith Kanawha river to 
 the mouth of Elk river, and up Elk river to Lovell street bridge 
 and Charleston street; thence with Charleston street to Penn¬ 
 sylvania avenue; thence with Pennsylvania avenue to Roane 
 street; thence with Roane street to Delaware avenue; thence 
 with Delaware avenue to the low water mark in Kanawha river, 
 to place of beginning. 
 
 Fifth Ward: The Fifth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Elk river at 
 Lovell street bridge; thence with Elk river to the Kanawha & 
 Michigan railway; thence with the Kanawha ■& Michigan 
 railway to Pine street; thence with Pine street to the cor¬ 
 poration line on the north; thence with the corporation line 
 to the head of Carr street; thence with Carr street to Charleston 
 street; thence with Charleston street to the Kanawha & Michigan 
 railway; thence with the Kanawha <& Michigan railway to Dela¬ 
 ware avenue; thence with Delaware avenue to Roane street; 
 thence with Roane street to Pennsylvania avenue; thence with 
 Pennsylvania avenue to Charleston street; thence with Charles¬ 
 ton street to low water mark in Elk river, the place of beginning. 
 
 Sixth Ward: The Sixth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Elk river at the 
 Kanavjha & Michigan bridge; thence with the Elk river to Gill 
 
9 
 
 9 
 
 Hollow; thence following the corporation lines to the north¬ 
 eastern comer of Ward Five; thence with Pine street to Kan¬ 
 awha & Michigan railway; thence with the Kanawha & Michigan 
 railway to the low water mark in Elk river at the Kanaivha & 
 Michigan railway bridge, the place of beginning. 
 
 Seventh Ward: The Seventh Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Elk river at Lovell 
 street bridge; thence with Lovell street to Truslow street; thence 
 with Truslow street to Margaret street; thence with Margaret 
 street to Donnally street, and the intersection of Young street; 
 thence with Young street in a continuous straight line to the 
 corporation limits on the north; thence ivith the corporation line 
 to Elk river; thence with Elk river to the low water mark at 
 Lovell street bridge, the place of beginning. 
 
 Eighth Ward: The Eighth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the intersection of Lovell and Truslow 
 streets; thence with Truslow street to State street; thence with 
 State street to Capitol street; thence with Capitol street to 
 Smith street, and continuing in a straight line to the corpora¬ 
 tion line on the north; thence with the corporation line to the 
 northeastern corner of Ward Seven; thence in a straight line 
 with Young street to Donnally street; at its intersection with 
 Margaret street; thence with Margaret street to Truslow street; 
 thence with Truslow street to Lovell street, the place of begin¬ 
 ning. 
 
 Ninth Ward: The Ninth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Elk river and 
 Lovell street bridge; thence with Elk river to the Kanaivha 
 river; thence with Kanawha river to the low water mark at the 
 end of Capitol street; thence with Capitol street to State street; 
 thence with State street to Truslow street; thence with Truslow 
 street to Lovell street; thence with Lovell street to the low water 
 mark in Elk river, at Lovell street bridge, the place of beginning. 
 
 Tenth Ward: The Tenth Ward shall include the following 
 territory: Beginning at the low water mark in Kanawha river at 
 the end of Capitol street; thence with Kanawha river to the low 
 water mark at the end of Rujfner avenue; thence with Ruffner 
 avenue to its intersection with Lee street; thence with Lee street 
 to its intersection with Capitol street; thence with Capitol street 
 to the low water mark in Kanawha river, the place of beginning. 
 
 Eleventh Ward: The Eleventh Ward shall include the follow- 
 
10 
 
 ing territory: Beginning at the intersection of Lee street and 
 Capitol street; thence with Capitol street to its intersection with 
 Smith and Dryden streets, and in a continuous straight line in 
 the corporate limits on the north; thence with the corporation 
 limits in an easterly direction, to a point reached by a straight 
 line running with Brooks street; thence in a straight line run¬ 
 ning to and with Brooks street to the intersection of Brooks and 
 Lee streets; thence with Lee street to Capitol street, the place of 
 beginning. 
 
 Twelfth Ward: The Twelfth Ward shall include the follow¬ 
 ing territory: Beginning at the intersection of Lee and Brooks 
 streets; thence with Lee street to Beauregard street; thence with 
 Beauregard street, and in a straight line to the corporation limits 
 to the north; thence with the corporation limits to the north¬ 
 eastern corner of Ward Eleven; thence with the eastern line of 
 Ward Eleven, in a straight line, and with Brooks street, to the 
 intersection of Lee and Brooks streets, the place of beginning. 
 
 Thirteenth Ward: The Thirteenth Ward shall include the 
 following territory: Beginning at the intersection of Beauregard 
 and Lee streets; thence with Lee street to Elizabeth street; 
 thence with Elizabeth street to Piedmont road, and in a con¬ 
 tinuous straight line to the corporation limits on the north; 
 thence with the corporation line to the northeastern corner of 
 Ward Twelve; thence in a straight line to and running with 
 Beauregard street, to the intersection of Lee and Beauregard 
 streets, the place of beginning. 
 
 Fourteenth Ward: The Fourteenth Ward shall include the 
 following territory: Beginning at the intersection of Buffner 
 avenue and Lee street; thence with Buffner avenue to low water 
 mark in Kanawha river, at the end of Buffner avenue; thence 
 with Kanawha river to the corporation line on the east at Wilson 
 Hollow; thence with Wilson Hollow to the corporation line on 
 the north; thence ivith the northern corporation line to the north¬ 
 eastern corner of Ward Thirteen; thence in a straight line to 
 and running with Elizabeth street, to Lee street; thence with 
 Lee street to Buffner avenue, the place of beginning. 
 
 Fifteenth Ward: The Fifteenth Ward shall include all of the 
 territory in the limits of the city south of said low water mark on 
 the north side of Kanawha river. 
 
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 Voting Precincts. 
 
 The said city shall be divided into twenty-nine (29) voting 
 precincts, the boundaries of which shall be as follows: 
 
 Precinct No. 1. Precinct one shall include all the territory 
 in ward one lying north of the Kanawha & Michigan railway. 
 
 Precinct No. 2. Precinct two shall include all the tei'ritory 
 in ward one lying south of the Kanawha & Michigan railway. 
 
 Precinct No. 3. Precinct three shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward two lying north of the Kanawha & Michigan rail¬ 
 way. 
 
 Precinct No. 4. Precinct four shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward two lying south of the Kanawha & Michigan rail¬ 
 way. 
 
 Precinct No. 5. Precinct five shall include all the territory 
 in ward three lying north of Virginia street. 
 
 Precinct No. 6. Precinct six shall include all the territory 
 in ward three lying south of Virginia street. 
 
 Precinct No. 7. Precinct seven shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward four lying north of Randolph street. 
 
 Precinct No. 8. Precinct eight shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ivard four lying south of Randolph street. 
 
 Precinct No. 9. Precinct nine shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward five lying south of Birch street and Kanawha & 
 Michigan railway. 
 
 Precinct No. 10. Precinct ten shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward five lying north of Birch street and Kanawha & 
 Michigan railway. 
 
 Precinct No. 11. Precinct eleven shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward six lying west of Magazine Branch. 
 
 Precinct No. 12. Precinct twelve shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward six east of Magazine Branch. 
 
 Precinct No. 13. Precinct thirteen shall include all the 
 territory in ward seven south of North Rand street. 
 
 Precinct No. 14. Precinct fourteen shall include all the 
 territory in ward seven lying north of North Rand street. 
 
 Precinct No. 15. Precinct fifteen shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward eight lying south of North Rand street. 
 
 Precinct No. 16. Precinct sixteen shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ward eight lying north of North Rand street. 
 
 Precinct No. 17. Precinct seventeen shall include all the 
 territory in ward nine lying west of Truslow street. 
 
12 
 
 Precinct No. 18. Precinct eighteen shall include all the 
 territory in ward nine lying east of Truslow street. 
 
 Precinct No. 19. Precinct nineteen shall include all the 
 territory in ward ten lying west of Brooks street. • 
 
 Precinct No. 20. Precinct twenty shall include all the ter¬ 
 ritory in ivard ten lying east of Brooks street. 
 
 Precinct No. 21. Precinct twenty-one shall include all the 
 territory in ward eleven lying west of Broad street. 
 
 Precinct No. 22. Precinct twenty-two shall include all the 
 territory in ward eleven lying east of Broad street. 
 
 Precinct No. 23. Precinct twenty-three shall include all 
 the territory in ward twelve lying west of Morris street. 
 
 Precinct No. 24. Precinct twenty-four shall include all the 
 territory in ward twelve lying east of Morris street. 
 
 Precinct No. 25. Precinct twenty-five shall include all the 
 territory in ward thirteen lying west of Thompson street and a 
 continuous straight line to corporate line on north. 
 
 Precinct No. 26. Precinct twenty-six shall include all the 
 territory in ward thirteen lying east of Thompson street and a 
 continuous straight line from the end thereof to the corporate 
 line on the north. 
 
 Precinct No. 27. Precinct twenty-seven shall include all 
 the territory in ward fourteen lying west of Kentucky street. 
 
 Precinct No. 28. Precinct twenty-eight shall include all 
 the territory in ward fourteen lying east of Kentucky street. 
 
 Precinct No. 29. Precinct twenty-nine shall include all the 
 territory in ward fifteen. 
 
 The council shall by resolution entered of record fix the voting 
 places in each of said election precincts. 
 
 Municipal Authorities. 
 
 Sec. Jf. The municipal authorities of the city of Charleston 
 shall consist of a mayor, city treasurer, police judge and twenty 
 councilmen, who shall be elected by the qualified voters of such 
 city , and such officers shall, for the assessment year preceding 
 their respective elections as hereinafter provided, hove been as¬ 
 sessed with and paid taxes in the city of Charleston upon a valua¬ 
 tion of at least one hundred dollars worth of real estate or per¬ 
 sonal property therein / and any person elected to any one of 
 such offices who has not been assessed with and paid taxes on 
 such amount of property shall not qualify or enter upon the 
 
13 
 
 performance of the duties thereof, hut such office shall thereby 
 become vacant and shall be filled by a qualified person as pro¬ 
 vided herein for other vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 5. In addition to the municipal authorities mentioned in 
 section four of this act, the city shall have a manager, city clerk, 
 city auditor, collector, chief of police, city solicitor, chief of fire 
 department, engineer, health commissioner, building inspector, 
 lockup keeper, humane officer or officers, and such number of 
 policemen as council by ordinance may direct. All the officers 
 named in this and the preceding sections shall be paid proper 
 salaries which shall be fixed by the council, except as herein 
 otherwise provided, and such salaries shall be within the limits 
 provided for by this act. 
 
 Corporate Powers. 
 
 Sec. 6. All the corporate power of said city shall be vested in and 
 exercised by council or under its authority, except as otherwise pro¬ 
 vided in this act. 
 
 Sec. 7. The council of said city shall have, and is hereby granted 
 power to have said city surveyed, to lay out, open, vacate, straighten, 
 broaden, change grade of, grade, re-grade, curb, widen, narrow, re¬ 
 pair, pave and re-pave streets, alleys, roads, squares, plots, sidewalks 
 and gutters for public use, and to alter, improve, embellish and or¬ 
 nament and light the same, and to construct and maintain public 
 sewers and laterals, and shall, in all cases, have power and authority to 
 assess upon and collect from the property benefitted thereby, such 
 part of the expense thereof as shall be fixed by ordinance, except as 
 hereinafter provided; to have control of all streets, avenues, roads, 
 alleys and grounds for public use in said city, and to regulate the use 
 thereof and driving thereon, and to have the same kept free from ob¬ 
 struction, pollution or litter on or over them; to have the right to con¬ 
 trol all bridges within said city, and the traffic thereover; to change 
 the name of any street, avenue or road within said city, and regulate 
 and cause the numbering and re-numbering of houses on any street, 
 avenue or road therein; to regulate the naming of streets, avenues and 
 public places; to regulate and determine the width of streets, side¬ 
 walks, roads and alleys; to order and direct the curbing; re-curbing, 
 paving, repaving and repairing of sidewalks and footways for public 
 use in said city to be done and kept clean and in good order by the 
 owners of adjacent property; to enter into a contract with the county 
 
14 
 
 of Kanawha, or any internal improvement company for the joint 
 ownership of any bridge by the city and such county or company, upon 
 such terms as may be prescribed in the contract, but such bridges shall 
 be a public highway and the interest of the company, county and city 
 shall be only such proportionate part thereof as it may pay for or that 
 may be named in the contract; to prohibit and punish the abuse of 
 animals; to restrain and punish vagrants, mendicants, beggars, tramps, 
 prostitutes, drunken or disorderly persons within the city, and to pro¬ 
 vide for their arrest and manner of punishment; to prohibit and 
 punish by fine the bringing into the city by steamboats, railroads or 
 other carriers, of paupers, dangerous or objectionable characters or 
 persons afflicted with contagious diseases; to control and suppress dis¬ 
 orderly houses of prostitution or ill-fame, houses of assignation, and 
 gaming houses or any part thereof, to punish those engaged in gaming 
 and to suppress all gaming or gambling houses, and all places where 
 gambling or betting is in any way carried on or permitted and to 
 punish all persons in any way connected therewith; to prohibit within 
 the city, or within two miles thereof, slaughter houses, soap or glue 
 factories, and houses and places of like kind, and any other thing or 
 business dangerous, unwholesome, unhealthy, offensive, indecent or 
 dangerous to life, health, peace or property; to provide for the entry 
 into and the examination of all dwellings, lots, yards, enclosures, build¬ 
 ings and structures, cars, boats and vehicles of every description, and 
 to ascertain their condition for health, cleanliness or safety; to regulate 
 the building and maintenance of party walls, partition fences or lines, 
 fire walls, fire places, chimneys, boilers, smoke stacks and stove pipes; 
 to provide for and regulate the safe construction, inspection and re¬ 
 pairs of all public and private buildings, bridges, basements, culverts, 
 sewers, or other buildings or structures of any description; to take 
 down and remove, or make safe and secure, any and all buildings, 
 walls, structures or super-structures at the expense of the owners 
 thereof, that are or may become dangerous, or to require the owners or 
 their agents to take down and remove them or put them in a safe and 
 sound condition at their own expense; to regulate, restrain or prohibit 
 the erection of wooden or other buildings within the city; to regulate 
 the height, construction and inspection of all new buildings here¬ 
 after erected, and the alteration and repair of any buildings already 
 erected or hereafter erected in said city, and to require permits to be 
 obtained for such buildings and structures, and plans and specifica¬ 
 tions thereof to be first submitted to the building inspector; to regu¬ 
 late the limit within which it shall be lawful to erect any steps, porti- 
 
15 
 
 cos, bay windows, bow windows, show windows, awnings, signs, col¬ 
 umns, piers or other protection or structural ornaments of any kind 
 for the houses or buildings fronting on any street of said city; to es¬ 
 tablish fire limits and to provide the kind of buildings and structures 
 that may be erected therein, and to enforce all needful rules and reg¬ 
 ulations to guard against fire and danger therefrom; to require, regu¬ 
 late and control the construction of fire escapes for any building or 
 other structures in said city, to control the opening and construction 
 of ditches, drains, sewers, cess-pools, and gutters, and to deepen, widen 
 and clear the same of stagnant water or filth, and to prevent obstruc¬ 
 tion therein, and to fill, close or abolish the same and to determine at 
 whose expense the same shall be done; and to build and maintain fire 
 station houses, crematories, jails, lockups, and other buildings, police 
 stations and police courts, and to regulate the management thereof; 
 to acquire, establish, lay off, appropriate, regulate, maintain and con¬ 
 trol public grounds, squares and parks 3 hospitals, market houses, city 
 buildings, libraries and other educational or charitable institutions, 
 either within or without the city limits, and when the council deter¬ 
 mines that any real estate in or out of the city is necessary to be ac¬ 
 quired by said city for any such purpose, or for any public purpose, or 
 is necessary in the exercise of its powers herein granted, the power of 
 eminent domain is hereby conferred upon said city, and it shall have 
 the right to institute condemnation proceedings .against the owner 
 thereof, whether said property be in or out of said city, in the same 
 manner, to the same extent, and upon the same conditions as such 
 power is conferred upon public corporation by chapter forty-two of the 
 code of West Virginia of the edition of 1906, and is now or may be 
 hereafter amended; to purchase, sell, lease or contract for and take 
 care of all public buildings and structures and real estate deemed 
 proper for the use of such city; and for the protection of the public 
 to cause the removal of unsafe walls, structures or buildings, and the 
 filling of excavations; to prevent injury or annoyance to the business 
 of individuals from anything dangerous, offensive or unwholesome; to 
 abate or cause to be abated all nuisances and to that end and there¬ 
 about to summon witnesses and hear testimony; to regulate or pro¬ 
 hibit the keeping of gunpowder and other combustible or dangerous 
 articles; to regulate, restrain or prohibit the use of firecrackers or other 
 explosives or fireworks, and all noises or performances which may be 
 dangerous, indecent or annoying to persons or tend to frighten horses 
 or other animals; to provide and maintain proper places for the burial 
 of the dead, in or out of the city, and to regulate interments therein 
 
16 
 
 upon such terms and conditions as to price and otherwise as may be 
 determined; to provide for shade and ornamental trees, shrubbery, 
 grass, flowers and other ornamentation, and the protection of the same; 
 to provide for the poor of the city; to make suitable and proper reg- 
 , ulations in regard to the use of the streets, public places, sidewalks and 
 alleys by street cars, foot passengers, animals, vehicles, motors, auto¬ 
 mobiles, traction engines, railroad engines and cars, and to regulate 
 the running and operation of the same so as to prevent obstruction 
 thereon, encroachment thereto, injury, inconvenience or annoyance to 
 the public; to prohibit prize fighting, cock and dog fighting; to license, 
 tax regulate or prohibit theaters, moving pictures, circuses and exhibi¬ 
 tion of showmen and shows of any kind, and the exhibition of natural 
 or artificial curiosities, carnivals, menageries and musical exhibitions 
 and performances, and other things or business on which the state does 
 or may exact a license tax; to organize and maintain fire companies 
 and departments, and to provide necessary apparatus, engines and im¬ 
 plements for the same, and to regulate all matters pertaining to the 
 prevention and extinguishment of fires; to make proper regulations 
 for guarding against danger and damage from fires, water or other ele¬ 
 ments; to regulate and control the kind and manner of plumbing and 
 electric wiring, air ships, balloons, wireless stations, and other ap¬ 
 pliances for the protection of the health and safety of said city; to levy 
 taxes on persons, property and licenses; to license and tax dogs and 
 other animals, and regulate, restrain and prohibit them and all other 
 animals and fowls running at large; to provide revenue for the city and 
 appropriate the same to its expenses; to adopt rules for the transaction 
 of business of its own regulation and government; to promote the gen¬ 
 eral welfare of the city, and to protect the persons and property of citi¬ 
 zens therein; to regulate and provide for the weighing of produce and 
 other articles sold in said city and to regulate the transportation 
 thereof and other things, through the streets, allays and public places; 
 to have the right to grant, refuse or revoke any and all licenses for the 
 carrying on of any business within said city on w'hich the state exacts 
 a license tax; to establish and regulate markets and to prescribe the 
 time for holding the same, and what shall be sold in such market, and 
 to let stalls or apartments and regulate the same; to acquire and hold 
 property for market purposes; to regulate the placing of signs, bill 
 boards, posters and advertising, on or over the streets, alleys, sidewalks 
 and public grounds of said city; to preserve and protect the peace, 
 order and safety and health of the city and its inhabitants, including- 
 the right to regulate the sale and use of cocaine, morphine, opium and 
 
17 
 
 poisonous or dangerous drugs; to appoint and fix the place of holding 
 city elections; to erect, own lease, authorise or prohibit the erection 
 of gas works, electric light works or water works, ferry boats, in or 
 near the city, and to operate the same, and to sell the product or serv¬ 
 ices thereon and to do any and all things necessary and incidental to 
 the conduct of such business; to build, hold, purchase, own and oper¬ 
 ate toll bridges; to provide for the purity of water, milk, meats and. 
 provisions offered for sale in said city, and to that end provide for a 
 system of inspecting the same and making end enforcing rules for the 
 regulation of their sale, and to prohibit the sale of any unwholesome or 
 tainted milk, meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, or the sale of milk, contain¬ 
 ing water or other things not constituting a part of pure milk; to pro¬ 
 vide for inspecting dairies and slaughter houses, whether in or outside 
 of the city, where the milk and meat therefrom are offered for sale 
 within said city, and to prohibit the sale of any article deemed un¬ 
 wholesome, and to condemn the same or destroy or abate it as a 
 nuisance; to provide for the regulation of public processions so as to 
 prevent interference with public traffic, and to promote the good order 
 of the city; to prescribe and enforce ordinances and rules for the 
 purpose of protecting the health, property, lives, decency, morality, 
 cleanliness and good order of the city and its inhabitants, and to 
 protect places of divine worship in and about the premises where held, 
 and to punish violations of all ordinances, if the offense under and 
 against the same shall also constitute offenses under the laws of the 
 state of West Virginia or the common law; to provide for the employ¬ 
 ment and safe keeping of persons who may be committed in default of 
 the payment of fines, penalties, or costs under this act, who are other¬ 
 wise unable to discharge the same, by putiing them to work for the 
 benefit of the city upon the streets or other places in or out of the city 
 provided by said city, and to use such means to prevent their escape 
 while at work as the council may deem expedient; and the council 
 may fix a reasonable rate per day as wages to be allowed such persons 
 until the fine and costs against him are thereby discharged; to com¬ 
 pel the attendance at public meetings of the members of the council; 
 to have and exercise such additional rights, privileges and powers as 
 are granted to municipalities by chapter forty-seven of the code of 
 West Virginia, as amended. 
 
 For all such purposes, except that of taxation and for purposes 
 otherwise limited by this act, the council shall have jurisdiction, when 
 
18 
 
 necessary, for one mile beyond the corporation within said one mile 
 limit. 
 
 And the council shall have the right to establish, construct and 
 maintain public markets, landings, ferries, wharves and docks on any 
 ground which does or shall belong to said city, or which it shall ac¬ 
 quire, by purchase or otherwise, and to sell, lease, repair, alter or re¬ 
 move any public markets, landings, ferries, wharves, dikes, buildings 
 or docks, which have been or shall be so constructed, and to levy and 
 collect reasonable duty on vessels and othec craft coming to or using 
 said landings, ferries, wharves, dikes, docks and buildings, and to pre¬ 
 serve and protect the peace and good order at the same, and regulate 
 the manner in which they shall be used; and to have the sole right, 
 under state laws and in the same manner as now control county courts, 
 to establish, construct, maintain, regulate and control all such wharves, 
 docks, ferries and landings within the corporate limits of said city. 
 
 To carry into effect these enumerated powers and all other powers 
 conferred upon said city expressly or by implication in this and other 
 acts of the legislature, the council of said city shall have the power, in 
 the manner herein prescribed, to adopt and enforce all needful orders, 
 rules and ordinances not contrary to the laws and constitution of this 
 state; and to prescribe^ impose and enforce reasonable fines and penal¬ 
 ties, including imprisonment in the city lock-up, jail, or station house, 
 and to work prisoners found guilty, as the council may prescribe, and 
 market the products of such labor, and with the consent of the county 
 court of Kanawha county entered of record, shall have the right to use 
 the jail of said county for any purpose necessary to the administration 
 of its affairs. 
 
 Registration and Qualification of Voters. 
 
 Sec. 8. Every person qualified by law to vote for members of the 
 legislature of this state (and who shall have been a resident of said city 
 for sixty days preceding the day of election, of the ward in which he 
 offers to vote at least ten days preceding such day and a bona fide resi¬ 
 dent of the election precinct in which he offers to vote) shall be en¬ 
 titled to vote at ail elections held in said ciity by or under the authority 
 and control thereof. 
 
 Registration of Voters. 
 
 Sec. 9. For the electio7i to be held hereunder on the third 
 Monday in April, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, there 
 
.19 
 
 shall be made a registration of all the voters in all the election 
 precincts in said city as fixed by this act. The city council shall 
 hold a regular or special session on the first Monday in March, 
 next, before said election and shall appoint for each voting pre¬ 
 cinct as fixed by this act two competent persons as registrars, one 
 each from the two political parties which at the last preceding 
 election cast the highest number of votes in the city of Charles¬ 
 ton, but the executive committee of such political parties may 
 present to the council a writing signed by the chairman of the 
 committee of each party requesting the appointment of a quali¬ 
 fied voter of his political party as registrar with his city address 
 for each precinct in the city and the council shall appoint the 
 person in such writing as such registrar. No person shall be 
 eligible to appointment as registrar, or in any way act as such, 
 who has been convicted of a felony, or who holds any elective or 
 appointive office or is an employee under the laws of the state of 
 West Virginia or of the United States or who is not a qualified 
 voter in the precinct for which he is appointed, or who can not 
 read and write the English language. If such registrar shall fail 
 or refuse to serve, the vacancy shall be filled either by the city 
 council, or the mayor of the city in vacation, in the manner here¬ 
 inbefore proinded for the appointment of registrars, and the city 
 cleric shall notify all such persons of their appointment as regis¬ 
 trars. Said registrars shall before entering upon the discharge 
 of their duties take an oath to support the constitution of the 
 United States, the constitution of West Virginia, and to perform 
 the duties of their office to the best of their ability and that they 
 are legal members of the party for tuhich they are, respectively, 
 appointed. The said oath shall be filed in the office of the city 
 clerk. 
 
 The city clerk shall cause to be prepared suitable books and 
 blanks for the registration of the voters and such books shall be 
 so arranged as require by law 1 for the registration of voters for 
 general elections held in the state of West Virginia and all the 
 
 provisions, duties and obligations of chapter _ of the 
 
 acts of the special session of the legislature held in the month of 
 November, one thousand nine hundred and sixteen, shall apply 
 to the registration of voters hereunder, except as herein other¬ 
 wise set out, and the city council shall perform the duties re¬ 
 quired in said chapter of the county court, and the city clerk 
 shall perform the duties required of the county clerk. 
 
20 
 
 The said registrars shall meet on the Thursday following the 
 first Monday in March, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, 
 and proceed to register the names of all qualified voters in their 
 respective precincts in the manner required by said chapter 
 _ of the acts of said special session. 
 
 Said registrars shall complete said registration on or before 
 the fourth Monday in March, one thousand nine hundred and 
 nineteen, and, for the purpose of amending, correcting and com¬ 
 pleting said registration, shall sit together at some convenient 
 place within the voting precinct for two days, commencing the 
 first Monday in April, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, 
 from nine o'clock a. m . to one o'clock p. m and from two o'clock 
 p. m. to nine o'cIgcJc p. m., and shall give notice of the time and 
 place of their sitting for such registration and correction by 
 posting written or printed notices of the time and place of such 
 sitting for five days prior thereto at not less than three of the 
 most conspicuous places in said voting precinct, one of which 
 shall be at the place of voting in said precinct. At the time of 
 said sitting the'books of registration shall be open for public in¬ 
 spection, and the said registrars, in the manner hereinbefore pro¬ 
 vided shall register all qualified voters who have not theretofore 
 been so registered by them and complete and finish their regis¬ 
 tration of the voters within their said precinct and make out tivo 
 alphabetical lists of the registered voters within said precinct 
 entitled to vote at the ensuing election as registered by them and 
 shall sign and return the same to the city clerk on or before the 
 second Monday in April, one thousand nine hundred and nine¬ 
 teen. The registration books shall be sent to the polling places 
 along with the ballots, and no person who is not duly registered 
 thereon shall be allowed to vote at said election. 
 
 The commissioners of election shall return said books to the 
 city clerk with the poll books, and the same shall be carefully, 
 preserved by the city clerk in his office. 
 
 If the county court of Kanawha county shall adopt the lines 
 of the precincts as in this act set out as voting places for state 
 and county officers before another city election is held, then the 
 registration of voters made under the general law concerning 
 registration of voters shall be the registration of voters for all 
 city general elections, ivith such additions as herein provided for, 
 and it shall not be necessary to have a special registration of 
 voters for any special election, but the preceding registration of 
 
21 
 
 voters for the regular municipal election, with such additions 
 herein provided for, shall be the proper registration for such 
 special election. The voting precincts in the several wards for 
 all city elections shall be the same as to boundaries as those fixed 
 by the county court for all state and county elections so long as 
 they are confined to the boundaries of the wards as they now are. 
 The council shall elect two persons, one being a member of each 
 of the two leading political parties in said city, having all the 
 qualifications of commissioners of election under chapter three 
 of the code of West Virginia, as city registrars. They shall take 
 the same oath as other officers of the city take and shall be paid 
 such compensation as the council may fix by ordinance, and their 
 term of office shall be a period of two years. They shall sit in the 
 office of the city clerk on five separate days, being the last four 
 Saturdays and the last Monday preceding any regular or special 
 election of said city for the purpose of registering voters who 
 shall not have been already registered in the various precincts, 
 and for issuing transfers to any voter who has moved from one 
 precinct to another, and for striking off the name of any voter 
 from the registration books when it shall be shown by the 
 affidavits of two persons that he is no longer a voter in said city, 
 and they shall strike off from such registration books the names 
 of any person known by or proved to them to be dead. It shall 
 be the duty of the city clerk to make or have made copies of the 
 registration books on file in the office of the clerk of the county 
 court of Kanawha county at least sixty days before any regular 
 city election, and such copies, with such additions and changes 
 as may be made by the city registrars, shall be used for all special 
 elections that may be held between said regular elections as well 
 as the regular elections. Notice of the time and place of sittings 
 of said city registrars shall be given by the publication thereof by 
 the city clerk in two newspapers of opposite politics printed and 
 circulated in said city, once a week for six successive weeks before 
 any election, if there is a sufficient space of time for such pur¬ 
 pose, and, if not, then for such time as there may be before such 
 election. 
 
 Before the registrars shall register the name of any person as 
 a qualified voter they must be satisfied of his qualifications and 
 shall have the right and power to require of such persons all the 
 things that may be required of him by the registrars under the 
 state law, and such registrars shall, as to the qualifications of 
 
22 
 
 persons to vote, be governed by the state laws on such subject in 
 existence at the time of such registration. 
 
 The county clerk of Kanawha county shall carefully preserve 
 in his office the registration books of each general election for all 
 the precincts of the city of Charleston and shall permit copies to 
 be made of such registration books by any proper officer of the 
 city of Charleston. 
 
 Sec. 10. Candidates to be voted for at any municipal election 
 may be nominated by convention, or primary election, as may be 
 decided by the executive committees of any of the parties recog¬ 
 nized by law in said city, and candidates may be nominated by 
 petition in the manner provided by chapter three of the code of 
 West Virginia. Each of the political parties having the right to 
 make a nomination under the election laws of West Virginia 
 shall give notice of the manner of such nomination by publica¬ 
 tion thereof in some daily newspaper printed in the city of 
 Charleston for ten days prior to the date of such convention or 
 primary election. 
 
 Sec. 11. On the first Monday in April, one thousand nine 
 hundred and nineteen, and on the second Monday preceding any 
 city election held under the provisions of this act, the city council 
 shall appoint two commissioners of election, one from each of the 
 two political parties which did at the state and county election 
 held in said city on the fifth day of November, one thousand nine 
 hundred and eighteen, cast the highest number of votes, and if 
 at any time during the said session of the city council the city 
 executive committee of either political party from which said! 
 commissioners of election are to be selected or appointed shall 
 present to said council a writing signed by them, or by the chair¬ 
 man of said committee in their behalf, requesting the appoint¬ 
 ment of a qualified voter of their political party ivith his city 
 address and who is othenvise *qualified to act as such commis¬ 
 sioner of election under chapter three of the code of West Vir¬ 
 ginia, it shall be the duty of such council to appoint the person 
 named in such writing as such commissioner. The county court 
 of Kanawha county shall hold a regular or special session at the 
 court house of said county on the first Monday in April, one 
 thousand nine hundred and nineteen, and shall appoint one 
 qualified voter as commissioner of election for each precinct in 
 said city, and all city elections shall in all other respects be held 
 in the wap and manner prescribed in said chapter three of the 
 
23 
 
 code of West Virginia, except that no double election boards shall 
 be appointed for any city election. If the county court of Kan¬ 
 awha county shall at any time arrange the voting precincts in 
 the city of Charleston for state and county elections according to 
 the lines of the city wards hereinbefore provided, then at all sub¬ 
 sequent city elections such precincts with the same boundaries 
 and same voting places as provided for such state and county 
 elections shall be the precincts for all city elections. 
 
 Sec. 12. The preparation of the ballot and the method of voting 
 and all other requirements of chapter three of the code of West Vir¬ 
 ginia, except as changed or modified by this act, shall govern all city 
 elections held under the provisions hereof. 
 
 Council. 
 
 Sec. IS. The city of Charleston shall have a council, which 
 shall be known and styled as the “Council of the City of Charles¬ 
 ton” and shall be composed of twenty members, one from each of 
 the fifteen wards of the city, and five councilmen to be voted for 
 by all the voters of said city, all of whom shall be nominated , 
 voted for and elected in the manner herein provided. 
 
 Sec. Vf. Only citizens entitled to vote and residents and 
 voters of their respective wards and having the property qualifi¬ 
 cations hereinbefore provided shall be eligible to be elected to the 
 office of councilmen from their respective ivards and at large, and 
 each councilman so elected from a ward shall continue to be a 
 resident of the ward from which he is elected during his entire 
 term of office. 
 
 At the election to be held on the third Monday in April, one 
 thousand nine hundred and nineteen, there shall be elected one 
 member of the council from each ward and five members of the 
 council from the city at large. If any person elected to council 
 fails to qualify within twenty days after he is declared elected, or 
 resign as a member of the council, or cease to be a resident of 
 the ward from which he is elected, then his office shall thereby be 
 vacated and the council shall fill such vacancy by the election of 
 some qualified person for such unexpired term. No person shall 
 be declared elected by the council unless he receives the votes of 
 at least eleven members thereof, and the minutes of such meeting 
 shall show that fact. 
 
 Sec. 15. The mayor shall be the presiding officer of the council 
 
 \ 
 
I 
 
 24 
 
 and be a member thereof, with the right to vote on all questions 
 the same as any other member of said council, and the city cleric 
 shall be ex-officio cleric of the council, and also perform the duties 
 of cleric of the police court, and the mayor and city cleric shall 
 each perform such other duties as the council may require of 
 them. The council shall, at its first meeting after each election, 
 select one of its body as president pro tempore, who shall, in the 
 absence of the mayor, preside as chairman of the meeting of the 
 council, and in the absence of both the mayor and president pro 
 tempore at any meeting of the council, some member of the 
 council shall be elected to preside over such meeting. 
 
 Sec. 16. Whenever a majority of the newly elected members of the 
 council shall have qualified they shall enter upon the duties of their 
 said offices as a body and shall supersede the board of affairs and for¬ 
 mer council. 
 
 Sec. 17. The council shall exercise all of the legislative functions 
 of the city government, and shall have the right to demand of any city 
 official, or employee, information, explanations, facts, details, corre¬ 
 spondence, or other papers affecting the city’s interest; and it shall be 
 misfeasance and neglect of duty for any such official or employee to 
 fail or refuse to comply with such demands. 
 
 Sec. 18. The council shall by proper ordinance provide for the 
 auditing of all the books and accounts of the city at least once in each 
 year, and shall employ a reputable certified public accountant for such 
 purpose, and such audit shall show the complete financial condition of 
 the city at the time thereof and the receipts and disbursements of all 
 moneys during such year. The council shall also provide by ordinance 
 for the publication of the report of the accountant on the financial con¬ 
 dition of the city at least once in each year, and such report of the 
 accountant shall be spread upon the records of the council and be a 
 public record for all purposes. 
 
 Sec. 19. Any member of the council, and any city official, either 
 elected or appointed, may be removed from his office by the council 
 for any of the following causes: Official misconduct, incompetence, 
 habitual drunkenness, neglect of duty, oi gross immorality. The 
 charges against any such officer shall be reduced to writing and en¬ 
 tered of record by the council, and a summons shall thereupon be is¬ 
 sued by the city clerk containing a copy of the charges and requiring 
 the officer named therein to appear and answer the same on a day to 
 be named therein, which summons may be served in the same manner 
 as a summons commencing an action may be served, and the service 
 
25 
 
 must be made at least five days before the return day thereof, and it 
 shall require the affirmative vote of two-thirds of all the members 
 elected to council to remove any such official. The circuit court of 
 Kanawha county shall have concurrent jurisdiction with the council 
 to try, hear and determine any proceedings for the removal of any 
 city official for any of the causes herein mentioned. 
 
 The mayor, or any other city official having the power of appoint¬ 
 ment, shall have the absolute right in his discretion to remove any of 
 his appointees and appoint other qualified persons in his place, but 
 such removal shall be in writing and served upon said official so re¬ 
 moved, and all the rights and powers of such official shall cease and 
 end from the time of such service. 
 
 Sec. 20. The council shall make proper rules and regulations for its 
 own government and the conduct of its business, which rules shall not 
 be contrary to, or inconsistent with, any of the provisions of this act, 
 and such rules shall be duly entered of record and shall be published 
 by the council in any municipal code or other publication made by 
 the council of this act and the ordinances of said city. The council 
 shall cause a record of its meetings to be kept and recorded by the 
 city clerk in a well bound book provided by the council for that pur¬ 
 pose, which book shall remain in the custody and at the office of the 
 city clerk, and all the books containing the proceedings of former 
 councils or other governing bodies of the city of Charleston, shall 
 likewise remain in the custody and be kept at the office of the city 
 clerk, and all such books and all city records shall at reasonable hours 
 and in a reasonable manner be open to the inspection of the public. 
 
 Sec. 21. The council shall hold regular meetings on the first and 
 third Mondays of each month, and the hour and place of such meet¬ 
 ings shall be fixed by the council in the rules adopted by it, and, until 
 it shall adopt such rules, tlie hour of the meetings shall be 7:30 p. M. 
 on each of said Mondays^ and the place shall be the council chamber 
 of the city hall. 
 
 Sec. 22. Special meetings of the council shall be held when called 
 by the mayor or ten members thereof. In either case, the call there¬ 
 for shall be in writing and signed by the mayor or members issuing 
 it, and shall state the time, place and business to be considered 
 thereat, and a copy thereof shall be served upon each member of the 
 council then in the city, and also be published on two successive days 
 in two daily newspapers printed and circulated therein. No business, 
 other than that stated in such call, shall be considered at such meeting. 
 
26 
 
 Contested Elections. 
 
 Sec. 23. All contested elections shall he heard and determined by 
 the council and such contests shall be made and conducted in the 
 same manner as provided for in the case of contests for county and 
 district officers; and the council shall conduct its proceedings in such 
 cases as nearly as practicable in conformity with the proceedings of 
 the county court in such cases, and there shall be the same right of 
 appeal, in the same way, to the circuit court of Kanawha county. 
 
 Oaths of Officers. 
 
 Sec. 24. All officers elected and appointed shall take an oath, be¬ 
 fore some one authorized to administer oaths, that they will support 
 the constitution of the United States, the constitution of this state, 
 and will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of their re¬ 
 spective offices to the best of their skill and judgment; that they are 
 not then and will not during their term of office, in any way or manner 
 become pecuniarly interested directly or indirectly in any contract 
 with the city, in any franchise granted by it, or in the purchase of 
 supplies therefor. When the officer shall have made such oath in 
 writing and filed the same with the city clerk and shall have given 
 the bond required of him, he shall be considered as having qualified 
 for the office to which he was elected or appointed; provided , that if 
 any person so elected or appointed shall not qualify for said office as 
 herein prescribed, within twenty days after he shall have been officially 
 declared elected or appointed thereto, said office shall ipso facto be¬ 
 come vacant, and said vacancy shall be filled in the same manner as 
 other vacancies therein are provided for in this act. 
 
 Bond of Officers. 
 
 Sec. 25. The mayor, manager, city clerk, treasurer, city solicitor, 
 city collector, police judge, health commissioner, chief of police and 
 chief of fire department, each shall, before entering upon the dis¬ 
 charge of their respective duties, give an official bond, conditioned 
 for the faithful performance of such duties as are prescribed in this 
 act or any ordinance now or hereafter passed, in amounts as follows: 
 The mayor, one thousand dollars; manager, ten thousand dollars; 
 city collector, ten thousand dollars; the treasurer, sixty thousand 
 
27 
 
 dollars; the city clerk, police judge and city solicitor, three thousand 
 dollars, respectively; health commissioner, chief of police and chief 
 of the tire department, one thousand dollars, respectively. 
 
 The council may require additional bond from any of said ap¬ 
 pointive officers, and may likewise require bond, in whatever sum 
 they may fix, of any other appointive officer or employee. All bonds 
 of officers or employees shall, before their acceptance, be approved by 
 the council. The minutes of the meeting of council shall show all 
 matters touching the consideration or approval of all bonds, and when 
 said bonds -are approved and accepted, they shall be recorded by the 
 city clerk in a well bound book kept by him at his office for that pur¬ 
 pose, which book shall be open to public inspection; and the recorda¬ 
 tion of such bonds as aforesaid shall be prima facie proof of their 
 correctness, and they, as so recorded, as well as copies thereof duly 
 attested by the city clerk under the seal of the city, shall be admitted 
 as evidence in all courts of this state The city clerk shall be the 
 custodian of all bonds^ except that given by him, and as to it, the city 
 treasurer shall be custodian. All bonds, obligations or other writings 
 taken in pursuance of any provisions of this act, shall be made pay¬ 
 able to “The City of Charleston,” and the respective persons, and 
 their heirs, executors, administrators and assigns bound thereby shall 
 be subject to the same proceedings on said bonds, obligations and 
 other writings, for the purpose of enforcing the conditions of the 
 terms thereof, by motion or otherwise, before any court of record held 
 in and for the county of Kanawha, that collectors of county levies 
 and their sureties are or shall be subject to on their bonds for enforc¬ 
 ing the payment of the county levies. 
 
 Quorum. 
 
 Sec- 26. A majority of the whole number of members elected to 
 the council shall be necessary for the transaction of business, but a 
 smaller number may adjourn from time to time and may compel the 
 attendance of absent members, in such manner and under such penal¬ 
 ties as it may by rules provide. 
 
 How Vote Taken 
 
 Sec. 27. Unless otherwise herein provided, the vote upon any 
 question or motion before the council may be viva voce when unani¬ 
 mous; but if the question or motion does not receive the unanimous 
 
28 
 
 vote of the members present, the vote shall be taken by roll call of 
 the members and made a part of the minutes of the meeting, and 
 when the vote is unanimous the minutes shall so state. 
 
 Minutes of the Meetings. 
 
 * 
 
 Sec. 28. The city clerk shall be ex-officio clerk of the council and 
 shall keep detailed minutes of its meetings and proceedings in a well 
 bound book for that purpose, which shall remain in the custody of 
 the city clerk at his office and open to public inspection. The minutes 
 of every meeting after being corrected, shall be signed by the mayor 
 and city clerk, and, if thus recorded and signed, they shall be ad¬ 
 mitted as evidence in any court of record in this state. 
 
 Sec. 29. No officer of the city shall hold two offices with the city 
 at the same time, or be employed by the city in any other capacity, 
 without first having the consent of the council. All officers, except 
 those under civil service, shall hold their respective offices for a term 
 of two years, except the councilmen elected hereunder, who shall hold 
 their offices for the period of time hereinbefore provided. 
 
 Sec. 30. Whenever the mayor or other officer shall fail to make 
 any and all appointments under him, or required to be made by him, 
 for a period of thirty days from the time such appointment should 
 have been made, he shall forfeit his office, and the same shall be de¬ 
 clared vacant by the council, and his successor appointed, in the man¬ 
 ner herein provided. 
 
 Sec. 31. Whenever a vacancy for any cause whatever shall occur 
 in the office of mayor or treasurer, the council shall elect some 
 qualified person to fill said vacancy until the next city election, and 
 until his successor shall have been elected and qualified; and when 
 such vacancy shall occur in the office of any appointive officer, his 
 successor shall be appointed by the person making the original ap¬ 
 pointment, or his successor in office, as hereinbefore provided; and 
 all elective and appointive officers of said city shall hold their re¬ 
 spective-offices until their successors are elected, or appointed, and 
 qualified, unless sooner removed. 
 
 Sec- 32. Any member of council or any officer of, or connected 
 with, the city government pursuant to any law of this state or ordi¬ 
 nance of the city now or hereafter passed, who shall, in his official 
 capacity or under color of his office, knowingly or wilfully, or cor¬ 
 ruptly vote for, assent to or report in favor of, or allow, or certify 
 for allowance, any claim or demand against the city, which claim 
 
or demand shall be on account or under color of any contract or 
 agreement not authorized by or in pursuance of the provisions of 
 this act, or the ordinances of the city, or any claim or demand against 
 the city and which claim or demand or any part thereof shall be for 
 work not performed for and by authority of said city, or for the sup¬ 
 plies or materials not actually furnished thereto pursuant to law or 
 ordinance, and every such member or officer as aforesaid who shall 
 knowingly vote for, assent to, assist or otherwise permit, or aid in 
 the disbursement or disposition of any money or property belonging 
 to the city to any other than the specific use or purpose for which 
 such money or property shall be or shall have been received or ap¬ 
 propriated or collected or authorized by law to be received, appro¬ 
 priated or collected, shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by 
 imprisonment in the county jail for a period of not less than sixty 
 days nor more than pne year or by a fine of not less than five hundred 
 dollars, or more than two thousand dollars, or by both. But the 
 council shall pay any just obligations made by the city and keep and 
 perform all contracts, agreements and obligations made under the 
 law as it was the day before this act goes into effect, and for which 
 and on which the city is liable or obligated. 
 
 Attendance of Witnesses—Punishing Contempts, etc. 
 
 Sec. 33. The council in the exercise of its powers and the per¬ 
 formance of its duties, as prescribed by this act, and by the laws of 
 the state, shall have the power to enforce the attendance of witnesses, 
 the production of books and papers, and the power to administer oaths 
 in the same manner and with like effect, and under the same penal¬ 
 ties, as notaries public, justices of the peace, and other officers of the 
 state authorized to administer oaths under state laws; and said 
 council shall have the power to punish for contempt as is conferred on 
 county courts by section thirteen of chapter thirty-nine of the code. 
 All process necessary to enforce the powers conferred by this act on 
 the council shall be signed by the mayor (or acting mayor), and may 
 be executed by any member of the police force. 
 
 Absence of Officers. 
 
 Sec. 34. Whenever for any reason the mayor shall be absent from 
 the city, or unable to attend to the duties of his office temporarily, 
 the president pro tem of the council shall perform them during such 
 absence or inability, and in the absence or inability of the manager 
 
> 
 
 30 
 
 
 to attend to the duties of his office temporarily, the mayor shall desig¬ 
 nate some one to perform such duties, provided that such temporary 
 absence or inability shall not exceed thirty days, but if such absence 
 or inability shall exceed thirty days, then such appointment or desig¬ 
 nation shall bQ submitted to the council, for confirmation or rejection. 
 In the absence or inability of any other appointive city official to 
 perform the duties of his office, the person or body making the original 
 appointment, or his successor in office, shall designate some one to 
 fill such office temporarily, or if such absence or inability extends over 
 a period of sixty days, he may appoint some one to fill such office 
 permanently. 
 
 Mayor and Other Officers. 
 
 Sec. 35. There shall he a mayor, twenty members of council, 
 a police judge and treasurer elected on the third Monday in 
 April, one thousand nine hundred and nineteen, for the term Of 
 four years, and their successors shall he elected every four years 
 thereafter, and their terms of office shall begin on the first Mon¬ 
 day of May after their election. The mayors salary shall he not 
 less than three thousand nor more than five thousand dollars per 
 annum, and he shall not he eligible to hold said office for more 
 than two terms in succession. 
 
 v 
 
 The mayor shall appoint the city solicitor, the chief of police 
 and all policemen, humane officer or officers, building inspector, 
 collector, city auditor, engineer, health commissioner, lockup 
 keeper, and the chief of the fire department, and these appoint¬ 
 ments shall not require any confirmation by the council, but shall 
 be made at the discretion of the mayor, who shall, with like dis¬ 
 cretion, have the full and complete power of the removal thereof. 
 The mayor shall appoint the manager, by and with the advice 
 and consent of the council, arid the mayor shall, at the first 
 meeting of the council on or after the first day of May, one thou¬ 
 sand nine hundred and nineteen, send to the council the nomina¬ 
 tion of some fit and proper person for the office of manager, and 
 the council shall, either at a regular or special meeting called for 
 that purpose in the said month of May, pass upon such nomina¬ 
 tion and either confirm or reject the same, and if such nomina¬ 
 tion is rejected, then the mayor shall submit to the council a 
 further nomination of some other person or persons until the 
 nomination is confirmed by council, for said office of manager, 
 but it shall be the duty of the council to pass upon all nomina- 
 
31 
 
 tions without any unreasonable delay, and in any event within 
 two weeks after the submission of the same, and the failure of 
 members of the council to pass thereon within such time shall be 
 cause for the removal from office of such members of the council. 
 
 The council shall appoint a city clerk. The manager shall 
 appoint or employ such persons as the ordinances of the city may 
 require or the council may authorize by proper resolution. All 
 such officers shall be appointed for the term of four years and 
 until their successors are appointed and qualified, unless they are 
 removed in the way and manner in this act provided. 
 
 * 
 
 It shall be the duty of the mayor to attend all meetings of the 
 council and preside over that body. 
 
 It shall be the duty of the mayor to see that all of the laws and 
 ordinances of the city are enforced and he shall have a general 
 oversight over the peace, health and good order of the city. 
 
 The duties of the city solicitor shall be to attend the sessions 
 of council, and. to prosecute all suits in behalf of the city and 
 defend all suits against the city, to advise the council and all of 
 the departments of Ihe city and in general to look after the in¬ 
 terests of the city when it shall need legal services, for which he 
 shall receive a salary of twenty-five hundred dollars per annum. 
 All fees of every kind collected by any officer or employee, in¬ 
 cluding the police judge when acting as a justice shall be paid to 
 the city treasurer. 
 
 Sec. 36. The manager shall be appointed in the way and 
 manner hereinbefore provided and shall receive such salary as 
 council may by ordinance prescribe, provided such amount shall 
 not be less than three thousand nor more than five thousand 
 dollars per annum, and he shall have the right to employ one 
 clerk at such salary as council may fix, and such other help as he 
 may require and as council may from time to time allow. 
 
 The manager shall devote his entire time and attention to the 
 duties of his office, and shall have supervision and control of the 
 executive work and management of the heads of all departments 
 under his control as directed by the mayor. lie shall make all 
 contracts for labor and supplies, and generally perform all of the 
 administrative work of the city, and such other duties as council 
 may require of him, and shall possess such other powers and per¬ 
 form such other duties as council shall prescribe. 
 
32 
 
 Franchises and Ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 37. All franchise granting the right of occupancy of any 
 portion of the streets or alleys for works of public utility or service, 
 or granting any right or privilege, which the city has the power to 
 grant to individuals, firms or corporations, in order that the latter 
 may serve the public, may be made, but only upon the following re¬ 
 strictions and conditions: All such franchises, rights and privileges 
 shall be granted only by ordinance duly passed by the council. 
 
 No grant of any such franchise shall be made without, at the time 
 of making it, providing that the grantee shall indemnify the city 
 against all damages caused by construction, maintenance or operation 
 of such works. Additional provisions and conditions shall be made 
 for the protection of the public against damage or inconvenience by 
 reason of the construction, maintenance or operation thereof. 
 
 No grant of a franchise for the extension of or an addition to any 
 line or work of public service through, over or under any additional 
 street or territory of the city, shall be made for a period extending 
 beyond the time limited for the expiration of franchise of the prin¬ 
 cipal work of which it is an extension and if the franchise of the 
 principal work is one granted before this act goes into effect and not 
 limited as to time, any franchise granted for an extension or addition 
 thereto shall nevertheless be made subject to the conditions thereof, 
 including a time limit for a period not exceeding twenty-five years. 
 All franchises hereafter granted shall embody therein a plainly ex¬ 
 pressed condition, where the franchise is for work to be useful chiefly 
 to the citizens of the city, that at the expiration of such franchise or 
 certain periods therein mentioned, the grantee shall, if required By 
 the governing body of the city, sell to the city the plant at its actual 
 physical value, exclusive of any value for the franchise granted by the 
 city or its earning capacity or productive worth, and no exclusive 
 franchise shall be granted- 
 
 If the city and the owner of the plant cannot agree upon its worth, 
 then the value shall be ascertained by an impartial arbitration, one 
 arbitrator to be selected by the city, one by such owner of the plant, 
 these two to select a third and the decision of any two to be binding 
 upon both parties, and if they shall fail for a period of thirty days 
 to select such third arbitrator, then either party may apply to the 
 judge of the circuit court of Kanawha county who shall then appoint 
 such third arbitrator. 
 
33 
 
 No franchise shall be granted without the affirmative vote of two- 
 thirds of all the members elected to said council. 
 
 Sec. 38. When any franchise granting the right to use the streets, 
 alleys or public grounds, shall be applied for, the application or peti¬ 
 tion shall be advertised in two newspapers, published in said city, 
 thirty days before the same shall be heard and determined by the 
 council; and any ordinance granting such rights and franchises shall, 
 on the petition of ten per cent of the votes cast for all candidates 
 for the office of mayor at the last preceding election, be submitted to 
 the voters at a special election, for adoption or rejection, which shall 
 be by a majority of the votes cast; said election to be held and con¬ 
 ducted as other municipal elections are held, except that all of the 
 expenses of said election shall be borne by the party or corporation 
 desiring said rights and franchise. 
 
 All such ordinances shall protect the interests of the city, as pro¬ 
 vided in section thirty-eight, as well as such additional conditions, 
 compensations or limitations as council may prescribe. 
 
 Sec. 39. Council shall have the right to appoint such committees 
 of its own body as it may deem proper, and may give such committees 
 power and authority to perform any duties and make any reports to 
 council concerning the duties of council, and council may adjourn 
 its meetings from time to time, pending the consideration of any 
 matter, franchise or ordinance, and may postpone the announcement 
 of any vote to an adjourned meeting or to a future meeting. 
 
 Sec. 40. The style of all ordinances enacted by the council shall 
 be “Be it ordained by the Council of the City of Charleston.” 
 
 Sec. 41. No ordinance shall be passed, except by bill, and no bill 
 shall be so amended in its passage as to change its original purpose 
 All bills must be in writing or printed and presented and read in full 
 by the city clerk. No bill shall be considered for final passage at the 
 meeting at which it was introduced, but at any subsequent meeting 
 of the council such bills may be taken up for consideration and final 
 action. No bill, except general appropriation bills which may embrace 
 the various subjects and accounts for and on account of which moneys 
 are appropriated, shall contain more than one subject, which shall be 
 clearly expressed in its title. No bill shall become an ordinance unless 
 on its final passage a majority of the council vote in its favor and 
 the vote be taken by the yeas and nays, and the names of the mem¬ 
 bers voting for and against the same, be entered of record in the 
 minutes of the proceedings of the council. No ordinance shall be 
 revised or re-enacted by mere reference to the title thereof, but the 
 
34 
 
 same shall be set forth, at length as if it were an original ordinance, 
 nor shall any ordinance be amended by providing that designated 
 words thereof be stricken out and others inserted in lieu thereof, but 
 the ordinance or sections amended shall be set forth in full as 
 amended. All ordinances in force at the time this charter goes into 
 effect, not inconsistent therewith, shall remain in full force until 
 altered or repealed as herein provided, and all rights, actions, pre¬ 
 scriptions and contracts of the city not inconsistent therewith shall 
 continue to be valid as if this act had not been passed. 
 
 Sec. 42. All ordinances passed, shall be spread in extenso upon 
 the records of the council when adopted. The council shall provide 
 a well-bound book in which shall be copied by the city clerk all 
 ordinances in the order in which they are passed, which ordinances, 
 when so copied, shall be compared with the originals by the mayor 
 and shall be signed by him when found correct. Such books shall be 
 indexed so as to show in brief form the substance of the ordinance, 
 and shall be received by all courts and justices in this state as evi¬ 
 dence, but the council may adopt by ordinance properly designating 
 and describing it, a code of laws and ordinances, which when adopted 
 shall be printed in book form, or said council may designate any com¬ 
 mittee, or attorney, or the city solicitor to prepare a code of ordi¬ 
 nances for the government of the city of Charleston, and said coun¬ 
 cil may by ordinance adopt the code so prepared as a whole, and 
 when said ordinance adopting said code shall have been passed by 
 the council, the said code shall be and become the law and ordinances 
 of said city, and may be printed by order of the council, and the 
 same shall be so received as evidence of what is printed therein, until 
 errors or omissions be affirmatively shown therein. 
 
 Sec. 43. All persons elected or appointed to the offices named in 
 this act shall be conservators of the peace within said city, and they, 
 and any other officer provided for under this act, may be given 
 authority of police officers by the council. 
 
 Sec. 44. The police judge shall be ex-officio, a justice and a con¬ 
 servator of the peace, with authority to issue process for all offenses 
 committed within the police jurisdiction of the city of Charleston, of 
 which a justice of the peace has jurisdiction under state statutes, and 
 for all violations of any city ordinances, and shall have charge of and 
 preside over the police court of such city; and may commit persons 
 charged with felony or misdemeanor to jail or take bond for their 
 appearance before the grand jury of the circuit, intermediate or 
 
-35 
 
 criminal courts of Kanawha county; he shell keep an accurate record 
 of all his judicial proceedings in said court, showing the style of each 
 case, which record shall be indexed and numbered. It shall be his 
 duty to hold daily sessions of his said court, Sunday excepted. Be¬ 
 fore trying any person charged with any violation of any ordinance 
 he shall issue his warrant specifying the offense or violation charged; 
 he shall render judgment in any case as the law of the state or the 
 ordinance of the city applying thereto may require; he shall also have 
 the power to issue executions for all fines, penalties and costs imposed 
 by him and he may require immediate payment thereof, and in de¬ 
 fault of such payment, may commit the party so in default to the 
 jail of the county of Kanawha, or other place of imprisonment in 
 said city, if there be one, until the fine and penalty and costs shall he 
 paid or satisfied, to be employed during the term of imprisonment as 
 hereafter provided, but the term of imprisonment in any such case 
 shall not exceed thirty days, and in all cases where a person is sen¬ 
 tenced to imprisonment or to the payment of a fine of ten dollars or 
 more, such person shall be allowed an appeal from such decision to 
 the intermediate court of said Kanawha county upon the execution of 
 an appeal bond, with surety deemed sufficient by the said police judge 
 in a penalty double the amount of the fine and costs imposed by him, 
 conditioned that the person proposing to appeal will appear before 
 the intermediate court of Kanawha county on the first day of the 
 next term thereof to answer for the offense wherewith he is chargd 
 and not depart thence without leave of the court and satisfy all costs 
 and fines imposed*against him; and in no case shall judgment for a 
 fine of less than ten dollars be given by the police judge if the de¬ 
 fendant, his agent or attorney object thereto. If such appeal be 
 taken, the warrant of arrest, the transcript of the judgment, the 
 appeal bond and other papers of the case shall be forthwith delivered 
 by the said police judge to the clerk of the said intermediate court 
 and the court shall proceed to try the case as upon indictment or pre¬ 
 sentment and render such judgment, including that of cost, as the 
 law and the evidence may require. 
 
 The expenses of maintaining such persons committed to the jail 
 of the county by such police judge shall be paid by the city. The 
 police judge shall account for and pay over the amount of all fines 
 collected by him weekly to the treasurer of the city and shall make 
 monthly reports thereof, and of all other matters pertaining to his 
 office to the council of said city. 
 
36 
 
 Sec. 45. The police judge shall be an attorney at law and shall 
 have attained the age of thirty years at the date of the beginning of 
 his term of service and shall have been a resident of this state for 
 the period of five years and of the city of Charleston previous to the 
 beginning of his term of service for the period of one year. He shall 
 not appear as counsel in any criminal case in any court during his 
 term of service. In the absence or inability of the police judge to 
 perform his duties, the city clerk shall act as police judge in his stead, 
 and in the event that neither the police judge nor the city clerk can 
 for any cause perform such, duties, then the mayor shall act as police 
 judge. 
 
 Sec. 46. In all cases of arrest by the police of the city, except in 
 cases for a felony, the person arrested shall have the absolute right 
 to give a reasonable and proper bond for his appearance at police 
 court for a trial of his case, and the police-judge, city clerk ? mayor, 
 chief of police and the desk sergeant or person in charge of police 
 headquarters shall have the power, and it shall be their duty, to accept 
 such bond from such person so arrested, and upon the giving of such 
 bond he shall be released, and it shall be their further duty to permit 
 such person arrested to communicate in any reasonable way with any 
 person or persons with whom he may desire to have communication 
 in reference to his giving bail in order to obtain his release, and each 
 of said officers and all policemen shall render reasonable aid in as¬ 
 sisting such person arrested to communicate with any person that he 
 may desire for the purpose of securing such bail. 
 
 4 
 
 Nuisances. 
 
 Sec. 47. The manager of said city shall have authority to abate 
 and remove all nuisances in said city. He may compel the owners, 
 agents, assignees, occupants or tenants of any lot, premises, property, 
 building or structure, upon or in which any nuisance may be, to abate 
 and remove the same by orders therefor, and the council shall by 
 ordinance provide a penalty for the violation of such orders. Council 
 may by ordinance regulate the location, construction, repair, use, 
 emptying and cleaning of all water closets, privies, cesspools, sinks, 
 plumbing drains, yards, lots, areaways, pens, stables and other places, 
 where offensive, unsightly, unwholesome, objectionable or dangerous 
 substances or liquids are, or may accumulate, and provide suitable pen¬ 
 alties for the violation of such regulations, which may be enforced 
 against the owner, agents, assignee, occupant or tenant of any prem- 
 
37 
 
 ises, or structure where such violation may occur. It shall be the duty 
 of all police officers to report to the manager the facts as to. the 
 existence of any nuisance known to them. 
 
 If the owner, agent, tenant, assignee or occupant of any such prem¬ 
 ises, lot, property, building or structure, as is mentioned herein, shall 
 fail or refuse to abate or remove any such nuisance, as mentioned 
 herein, or to comply with the provisions of any such ordinance and the 
 regulations herein contained, the manager may have said nuisance 
 abated or the provisions of said ordinance or ordinances carried out, 
 after reasonable notice to said owner, occupant, tenant, agent or as¬ 
 signee of his intention so to do, and collect the expenses thereof, with 
 one per centum per month interest added from the date of said notice, 
 from the said owner, occupant, tenant, agent or assignee, by distress 
 or sale, in the same manner in which taxes levied upon real estate! 
 for the benefit of said city are herein authorized to be collected, and 
 the expense shall remain a lien upon said lot, or part of lot, the same 
 as taxes levied upon real estate in said city; which lien may be enforced 
 by a suit in equity before any court having jurisdiction, as other liens 
 against real estate are enforced. In case of non-resident owners of real 
 estate such notice may be served upon any tenant, occupant, assignee 
 or rental agent, or by publication thereof once a week for not less than 
 two consecutive weeks in two newspapers of opposite politics, published 
 in said city. 
 
 And in all cases where any tenant, occupant or agent is required to 
 abate and remove any nuisance under the provisions of this section, 
 or comply with the provisions of any such ordinance as is mentioned 
 herein, the expense thereof may be deducted out of the accruing or 
 accrued rent of said property or amount due said owner from said 
 agent, and such tenant, occupant or agent may recover the amount so 
 paid from the owner, unless otherwise especially agreed upon. 
 
 x4ny expense incurred by the manager as herein provided, in the 
 manner aforesaid, may be collected in the manner herein provided, 
 notwithstanding the imposition of any other penalty or penalties upon 
 any of the persons named herein, under any of the provisions of this 
 act. The abatement or removal of any such nuisance by the city at 
 the expense of said city, as herein provided, shall be prima facie proof 
 that the said notice to the owner, occupant, agent or assignee was 
 given as herein prescribed. 
 
 Sec. 48. The manager may require all owners, tenants or occupants 
 of improved property which may be located upon or near any street or 
 alley along which may be extended any sewer or system of sewerage, 
 
38 
 
 which the said city may construct, own or control, to connect with 
 such* sewer, or system of sewerage, all privies, ponds, water closets, 
 cesspools, drains or sinks, located upon their respective properties or 
 premises, so that their contents may be made to empty into such sewer 
 or system of sewerage. 
 
 Sidewalks. 
 
 Sec. 49. The council shall have the right and authority to estab¬ 
 lish the width of any sidewalk on any street, alley or public square, or 
 any portion thereof in said city, to cause to be put down a suitable 
 curb of brick, stone or other material along for the footways and side¬ 
 walks of the streets, alleys or public squares or portion thereof, and 
 to order the construction, re-laying and repair of sidewalks and gutters 
 of such material and width, and in such manner, as the council may 
 reasonably prescribe by the owners or occupiers of the lots or parts of 
 lots facing upon said streets, alleys and public squares; and in case of 
 a failure or refusal of any such owner or occupiers of the lots or parts 
 of lots to construct, re-lay or repair such sidewalks and gutters, when 
 required, it shall be lawful for the council to have such sidewalks and 
 gutters constructed, re-laid or repaired, and levy and collect the ex¬ 
 pense thereof, with one per centum per month interest added after a 
 demand of thirty days has been made by the treasurer of the city from 
 • the said owner, owners, occupier, occupiers or any of them; and in all 
 cases of such assessment, whether for the construction, re-laying or 
 repairing of sidewalks or gutters, payment thereof shall be made to 
 the treasurer within thirty days after the completion of the work and 
 demand made, and if not so paid the city is hereby authorized to col¬ 
 lect or cause to be collected the expense thereof, with one per centum 
 per month interest added after the work has been completed and a 
 demand of thirty days, and they shall have the power to collect, or 
 cause to be collected, the same from said owner, owners, occupier or 
 occupiers or any of them, by distress and sale, in same manner in 
 which taxes levied upon real estate for the benefit of the said city are 
 herein authorized to be collected, and in addition there shall be a lien 
 upon the real estate against which such assessment has been levied 
 for the construction, re-laying and repairing of sidewalks and gutters 
 as herein provided, which lien may be enforced by a suit in equity be¬ 
 fore any court having jurisdiction, as other liens against real estate 
 are enforced, and it shall be the duty of the city clerk to cause to be 
 certified to the clerk of the county court of Kanawha county the order 
 
39 
 
 laying an assessment authorized by this section. The clerk of the 
 county court of Kanawha county is hereby required to record and 
 index such assessments in the proper trust deed book in the name of 
 persons against whose property assessments appear therein; provided, 
 however, that a reasonable notice shall first be given to said owner or 
 occupier or their agent, that they are required to construct, re-lay or 
 repair such sidewalks or gutters. In case of non-residents who have 
 no known agent in said city, such notice may be given by publication 
 for a period not less than once a week for two consecutive weeks in 
 any newspaper printed in said city; and in all cases where a tenant 
 shall be required to construct, re-lay or repair sidewalks or gutters in 
 front of the property of his or her occupancy, the expense of such 
 construction of re-laying or repairing may be deducted out of the 
 accruing rent of said property, and he may recover the amount so 
 paid from the owner, unless otherwise especially agreed upon. The 
 laying or construction of any such sidewalks by said city shall be 
 prima facie proof that the said notice to the owner (resident or non¬ 
 resident) or occupier, or their agent, was given as herein required. 
 
 Taxes. 
 
 Sec. 50. The council shall ascertain the total expense of the city 
 to be provided for by levy for the fiscal year in which said levy is 
 made, and it shall make a detailed itemized estimate of the sum of 
 money necessary to pay interest accruing on the bonded indebtedness 
 of said city, the amount required for the several sinking funds for 
 the reduction of the principal thereof, the amounts necessary for the 
 support of the various departments of the city and for the improve¬ 
 ments of its streets, alleys, avenues and public grounds, real and 
 personal property, contingent expenses and other expenses, together 
 with an itemized statement of the estimated receipts other than that 
 to be derived by the annual levy, and after receiving such estimates, 
 and before making the levy, it shall apportion the rate thereof, in¬ 
 cluding the estimated receipts from licenses and all other sources 
 among the several funds so ascertained and provided for, which ap¬ 
 portionment shall be spread upon the records of this city, and in 
 making said estimate, providing for the revenue for the fiscal years, 
 etc., it shall be the duty of the council to strictly observe all the pro¬ 
 visions of chapter nine of the acts of the legislature, one thousand 
 nine hundred and eight, entitled “An act to regulate the rate and 
 manner of laying levies for taxation in counties, magisterial and 
 school and independent school districts, and municipal corporations, 
 
40 
 
 and to provide penalties for the illegal expenditure of public moneys, 
 incurring of illegal obligations and the laying of illegal levies by any 
 tax levying body, and for the distribution of a portion of the school 
 fund,” and all amendments thereto, except where said last named 
 act shall be inconsistent with this act as to limit of taxation. 
 
 Sec. 51. The council shall have authority to levy and collect 
 an annual tax on real estate and personal property in said city , 
 and to impose a license and assess a tax thereon on wheeled ve¬ 
 hicles for public hire and for all dogs kept within said city, and 
 to impose a tax upon all other subjects of taxation under th& 
 several laws of the state, which shall be uniform with respect to 
 persons and property within the jurisdiction of said city, and 
 shall only be levied on such property, real, personal and mixed, 
 on which the state imposes a tax; provided, that no greater levy 
 
 shall be laid by said council on the taxable property of said city 
 than fifty cents upon each hundred dollars of the assessed valu¬ 
 ation of the property of the municipality; and, provided, further, 
 
 that the council shall in making such levy, be subject to all the 
 provisions of chapter nine of the acts of the legislature of one 
 thousand nine hundred and eight and any and all amendments 
 thereto, except as herein provided. There shall be a tax of two 
 dollars annually assessed on each and every male inhabitant of 
 said city over the age of twenty-one years who is subject to a cap¬ 
 itation tax under the laws of the state of West Virginia. The 
 same shall be set out and included in the personal property book 
 against every such inhabitant, and shall be collected under the 
 authority of the city at the time of collecting other levies and 
 taxes. 
 
 Sec. 52. The city taxes annually levied by the council shall be 
 collected as follows: Immediately after the annual levy for city 
 taxes is laid the council shall direct the proper officer of the city to 
 extend the same on the property books made out by him, including 
 therein the proper capitation tax; he shall make out therefrom proper 
 tax tickets in the following manner: That is to say, instead of a 
 single ticket for the whole amount charged to any person, firm or 
 corporation there shall be two tickets, each for one-half of said 
 amount; these half tickets shall be severally numbered or designated 
 “first” and “second” and the same, after being examined and com¬ 
 pared by the council and found to be correct, shall be turned over to 
 the treasurer of the city on the first day of October following the 
 levy and the treasurer’s receipt for the gross amount thereof shall be 
 
41 
 
 returned, entered upon its record and the treasurer charged therewith. 
 The treasurer shall give notice by publication for twenty days in two 
 newspapers of opposite politics published in said city, that said tax 
 tickets are in his hands for collection, stating the penalty for non¬ 
 payment thereof and the time and place when the same may be paid; 
 provided, however, that the tax payers shall have the right to anticipate 
 the payment of the whole or any part of the taxes assessed against 
 them. 
 
 The one-half ticket designated “first” may be paid to the treasurer 
 of the city any time before the first day of November next succeed¬ 
 ing said levy; the one-half ticket designated “second” may be paid 
 to the treasurer of the city at any time before the first day of May 
 next succeeding said levy. To all the half tickets designated “first” 
 remaining unpaid in the treasurer’s hands on the said first day of 
 November succeeding said levy, a penalty of ten per cent shall be 
 added and collected from the taxpayers. To all half tickets designated 
 “second” remaining unpaid in the treasurer’s hands on the first day of 
 May succeeding said levy a penalty of ten per cent shall be added and 
 shall be collectible from the taxpayers. On said first day of November 
 succeeding said levy, all such half tickets designated “first,” and on 
 said first day of May succeeding said levy all such half tickets desig¬ 
 nated “second” remaining unpaid in the treasurer’s hands shall be * 
 taken up by the council and settlement had with said treasurer on said 
 days, respectively, or on the next succeeding days, respectively, if said 
 days shall fall upon Sunday, and thereupon the council shall place said 
 tickets in the hands of the city collector for collection and shall take 
 his receipt therefor; provided, however, that the council shall have the 
 power any year, by resolution, to extend the time within which the 
 tickets may remain in the treasurer’s hands and be paid to him without 
 adding the penalty, for a period named therein not exceeding, however, 
 a total of fifteen days. 
 
 The city collector shall have the power to collect said tickets so 
 placed in his hands, together with the penalties thereon hereinafter 
 provided to be added thereto, and the compensation of such city col¬ 
 lector for making such collection of the taxes aforesaid shall be fixed 
 by the council. 
 
 The city collector shall be charged with the gross amount of said 
 tax tickets so delivered to him for collection, including the penalties 
 accrued thereon so delivered, and no deduction therefrom shall be 
 allowed, unless on or before the first day of August of each yeap he 
 makes out and returns to the council a delinquent list of taxes un- 
 
42 
 
 collected for such year, with his oath attached thereto, stating that 
 such list is correct and just and that he has received no part of the 
 taxes mentioned therein, and that he has used due diligence to find 
 property liable to distress for taxes has found none, and that he 
 could not collect the same. 
 
 Neither the treasurer nor the city collector shall take or collect 
 anything but money for payment of taxes. 
 
 Sec. 53. The city collector shall have the power to collect the 
 city taxes except as otherwise provided in this act, and he shall also 
 have power to collect the city claims which may be placed in his 
 hands by the council for collection, except that fines imposed by the 
 police judge shall not be collected by him. 
 
 Sec. 54. All goods and chattels belonging to a person, firm, cor¬ 
 poration or estate, assessed with any city taxes, whether the same 
 he a capitation tax or a tax upon real estate or personal property or 
 an assessment for paving or other improvements, shall be liable for 
 said tax, and may be distrained therefor in whosoever^s possession they 
 may be found, and the city collector shall have the same power to 
 collect said tax or assessment from any person owing a debt to or 
 having in his possession any estate belonging to a person assessed 
 with any tax or assessment of any kind that the sheriff has to 
 collect state taxes in such cases. The city collector may distrain and 
 sell for all city taxes and assessments and in all respect have the 
 same power to enforce the collection thereof as the sheriff has to en¬ 
 force the collection of state taxes. 
 
 Sec. 55. There shall be a lien upon all real estate within said 
 city for the city taxes assessed thereon, including such penalties 
 added thereto for non-payment thereof as are prescribed by this act, 
 from the first day of April of the year in which said taxes are as¬ 
 sessed. Said liens may be enforced by appropriate suit in any court 
 of record in Kanawha county; provided, such suit be instituted within 
 five years from the time the said liens attached as herein provided, 
 and such suit may either be instituted by and in the name of the 
 city of Charleston as plaintiff, or said city may intervene by petition 
 any suit pending to sell or enforce liens againsf any real estate which 
 is subject to such lien for said taxes. The liens herein created shall 
 have priority over all other liens except those for taxes due the state. 
 
 Sec. 56. Said liens for city taxes and attendant penalties may also 
 be enforced by certifying the same to the clerk of the county 
 court of Kanawha county for certification to the state auditor, and 
 the same may be certified down by said auditor, and sold for taxes 
 
43 
 
 interest, penalties and commissions thereon, in the same manner, 
 at the same time, and by the same officer as real estate is sold for 
 taxes, interest, damages, cost and commissions due the state thereon, 
 which officer shall account therefor on settlement with the citv and 
 pay over the same to the treasurer of the city. 
 
 Sec. 57. No taxes or levies shall be assessed upon or collected 
 from the taxable persons or property within the corporate limits of 
 said city, for the construction, improvement or keeping in repair of 
 road, or the building, leasing or repairing of school houses, or the 
 purchase of lands for the same, or for the support of schools, or for 
 the support of the poor of Kanawha county, outside of said corporate 
 limits, for any year in which it shall appear that said city shall at its 
 own expense provide for its own poor and keep its own roads, streets 
 and bridges in good order. And neither the county court of Kanawha 
 county, nor the authorities of the district in which said city is sit¬ 
 uated, shall have or exercise jurisdiction within the corporate limits 
 with relation to the roads, streets, alleys, bridges, wharves, docks, 
 ferries, schools or school houses, but the same shall be and remain 
 under the exclusive jurisdiction and control of the municipal author¬ 
 ities of said city, except that the board of education in the independ¬ 
 ent school district of the city of Charleston shall have jurisdiction, 
 supervision and control of the schools and school houses in said dis¬ 
 trict; and said city shall be liable only for the construction, improve¬ 
 ment, repair and good order of the roads, streets, alleys, wharves and 
 bridges in its corporate limits, except that the county of Kanawha 
 may become the joint owner and controller with the city of Charleston 
 in a bridge or bridges across Kanawha river. 
 
 Depositing City Funds. 
 
 Sec. 58. It shall be the duty of the treasurer of the city to keep 
 all funds of the city in some bank or banks within said city, which 
 shall pay interest on such deposits and which shall pay interest on 
 the average daily balance of such funds in all accounts of the per 
 cent equal to that paid by state depositories on all funds of the state 
 of West Virginia and in the same manner and at the same time. 
 If no bank within the city is willing at any time to receive deposits 
 of the treasurer and to pay such interest thereon, the treasurer shall 
 report this fact to the council, who shall thereupon designate a bank 
 or banks in which he shall deposit said funds for the time being and 
 until some bank in said city will receive such reposits on such terms. 
 Before receiving any such deposits such bank or banks shall give 
 
44 
 
 bond in such penalty as the council shall prescribe, and with sureties 
 to be approved by said council, conditioned for the prompt payment, 
 whenever lawfully required, of all the city moneys or parts thereof 
 which may be deposited with them, which bond shall be renewed at 
 such times as the council may require. 
 
 Buying and Building Bridges, Water Works and Other Public Util¬ 
 ities, Paving Streets, Constructing Sewers, Etc. 
 
 Sec. 59. The city of Charleston is hereby authorized to issue and 
 sell bonds of said city, for the purpose of buying and building bridges, 
 electric light plants, water works, gas lines and fields, and other pub¬ 
 lic utilities; and such bonds shall be sold for not less than par, and 
 payable in a period not to exceed thirty-four years, and shall bear 
 interest, not to exceed six per centum per annum; and in the issuance 
 and sale of said bonds the city shall be governed by all the restric¬ 
 tions of the constitutions of this state and the statutes of this state, 
 with respect to the issuance and sale of other bonds, provided, that 
 said city shall not, by the sale or issue of bonds for the purposes 
 above mentioned, cause the aggregate of its indebtedness, of every 
 kind whatever, to exceed five per centum of the value of the taxable 
 property therein, but may for the above purposes issue bonds to the 
 maximum limit of said five per cent; nor shall said city make such 
 issue and sale of bonds without, at the same time, providing for the 
 collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay annually the interest 
 on the same, and a sinking fund to pay the principal within the time 
 for which said bonds shall be issued. 
 
 Sec. 60. The city of Charleston is hereby authorized to issue and 
 sell the bonds of the said city for the purpose of providing for grading, 
 paving and otherwise improving the streets and alleys of said city or 
 constructing sewers for the proper draining of same in anticipation 
 of special assessments to be made upon the property abutting upon 
 the streets and alleys so improved, or property so sewered or drained, 
 and such bonds may be in such an amount as shall be sufficient to 
 pay the entire estimated cost and expense of said improvements, for 
 which such special assessments are levied; provided, that the price 
 for which said bonds are sold shall not be below par value thereof; 
 said bonds may be payable in groups of one-fifth of the whole issue 
 payable in two, four, six, eight and ten years respectively, and all 
 payable in not to exceed ten years from the date of issue thereof, and 
 shall bear interest at a rate not exceeding six per centum per annum, 
 payable annually; and in the issuance and sale of said bonds, the 
 
45 
 
 city shall be governed by all the restrictions and limitations of the 
 constitution of this state and the restrictions and limitations of the 
 statutes of this state with respect to the issuance and sale of other 
 bonds, and the assessments as paid and provided for in this act 
 shall be applied to the liquidation of said bonds and the interest 
 thereon; and if by reason of the penalties collected with the delin¬ 
 quent assessments, there be any balance after the payment of said 
 bonds and all accrued interest and costs, the said balance shall be 
 turned into the city treasury to the credit of the interest and sinking 
 fund of the citv. 
 
 Provided , that said city shall not by the sale or issue of such bonds 
 cause the aggregate of its debt of every kind whatsoever to exceed 
 five per centum of the value of the taxable property therein; and, 
 provided, further, that nothing herein contained shall be construed 
 as authorizing said city to become indebted in any other manner or 
 for any other purpose, to an amount including the existing indebted¬ 
 ness in the aggregate exceeding two and one-half per centum on the 
 value of the taxable property therein (as provided in chapter fifty-- 
 one of the acts of 1905) except for the purpose of grading, paving, 
 sewering and otherwise improving the streets and alleys of said city 
 and as provided for in this act, and except for the purpose of buying 
 or building bridges, electric light plants, water works, gas lines and 
 fields and other public utilities; nor shall they make such issue and 
 sale of bonds for grading, paving, sewering and improving the streets 
 and alleys of said city without, at the same time, providing for the 
 collection of a direct annual tax sufficient to pay annually the in¬ 
 terest on such debt and principal thereof within a period not exceed¬ 
 ing ten years. 
 
 All assessments, interest and penalties thereon, collected from the 
 abutting property owners, on account of grading, paving, sewering 
 or otherwise improving the streets and alleys of such city under 
 the provisions of this act, shall annually be applied to the annual 
 tax required to pay the interest on such debt and such principal 
 within and not exceeding said period of ten years and in the event 
 that the assessments, interest and penalties so collected do not amount 
 to a sum sufficient to pay annually the interest on such debt, said city 
 shall collect so much of said levy as will pay annually the interest on 
 such debt, and the principal thereof within and not exceeding ten 
 years. 
 
 Sec. 61. Whenever the council of said city shall deem it expedient 
 to cause any street or alley in said city or portion thereof to be paved. 
 
46 
 
 curbed or macadamized, or otherwise improved in a permanent man¬ 
 ner, it shall order the work done in the following manner and upon 
 the following terms: The contract for such paving or other im¬ 
 provements shall, after due advertisement in which the council shall 
 reserve the right to reject any and all bids, be let to the lowest re¬ 
 sponsible bidder. The contractor shall look only to the city for the 
 payment of the work, and in no sense to the abutting land owners, 
 except as hereinafter provided. The total cost of grading and paving 
 or otherwise improving any such street or alley (with the exception 
 that where a street is occupied by the street car tracks or other rail¬ 
 ways, such cost of opening or otherwise improving the distance be¬ 
 tween the rails and two additional feet outside of each rail, shall be 
 borne and paid entirely by the street car or other railway company 
 operating such street or other railway, unless otherwise provided by 
 the franchise of such street car or other railway company granted 
 previous to the passage of this act), shall be borne by the owners of 
 the land abutting upon said street, alley or portion thereof, accord¬ 
 ing to the following plan, that is to say: payment is to be made by 
 all land owners on either side of such portion of a street or block so 
 paved or improved in such portion of the total cost, less the portion, 
 if any, chargeable to such street or other railway company, as the 
 frontage in feet of his land so abutting bears to the total frontage 
 of all lands so abutting on such street, alley or portion thereof so 
 paved or improved as aforesaid. The cost of such paving or im¬ 
 provement chargeable to the abutting owners is not to include any 
 portion of the amount paid for paving of squares at intersection of 
 streets or for curbing which shall in all cases be borne and paid by 
 the city. 
 
 When the paving of any street, or alley, or portion thereof shall 
 have been let to contract and the work done as hereinbefore pro¬ 
 vided, it shall be the duty of the engineer of said city to cause the 
 several frontages abutting thereon to be measured, and to calculate 
 the assessment upon each and every land owner so abutting and to 
 certify the same to the council, showing the proper amount to be de¬ 
 termined, as provided in the foregoing plan. It shall be the duty of 
 the council to examine and compare such assessment, amounts and 
 names so certified to it, and thereupon give notice by publication 
 once a week for two successive weeks in two newspapers of opposite 
 politics published in said city, that an assessment under this act is 
 about to be laid against the abutting property for paving or im¬ 
 provements done on said streets or alleys, describing the location of 
 
47 
 
 such paving or improvements, and any owner or owners thereof shall 
 have the right to appear before said council, wdthin two weeks from 
 the first publication thereof, and move to correct an apportionment 
 or assessment excessive or improperly made as charged, which cor¬ 
 rection said council shall have the power to make according to the 
 intent of this act, and if found to be correct or when corrected by 
 the council as aforesaid, it shall enter the same, together with a de¬ 
 scription of the lots of land as to location, frontage, depth and own¬ 
 ership, so far as the same may be ascertained, upon its records and 
 to enter in its records that such owners and lots be assessed and 
 chargeable with the amount so ascertained to be borne by them re¬ 
 spectively ; and when so approved, certified and entered on record, 
 the same shall be and constitute an assessment against said owners 
 and lots for such respective amounts. And it shall be the duty of 
 the council to immediately certify such assessment to the treasurer 
 for collection as herein provided, and a copy of said order shall be 
 certified by the city clerk to the clerk of the county court of Kanawha 
 county, who shall record and index the same in the proper trust 
 deed book in the name of each person against whose property assess¬ 
 ments appear therein. The amount so assessed against said abutting 
 land owners shall be paid in ten payments, as follows: That is to 
 say, one-tenth of said amount, together with interest on the whole 
 assessment, shall be paid into the city treasury, before the first day 
 of May next after said work is completed and said assessments have 
 been certified to the county clerk. And a like one-tenth, together 
 with interest for one year upon the whole amount remaining unpaid 
 on or before the first day of May in each succeeding year thereafter 
 until all has been paid, and each of said installments of one-tenth 
 beginning with the first, shall bear interest on the amount of said 
 installment at six per centum per annum from the date of record 
 of same in the county court clerk’s office until paid; providedhow- „ 
 ever, that any abutting owner so liable for any portion of the cost 
 of such paving shall have the right at any time after the same is 
 certified as aforesaid to the treasurer for collection to anticipate the 
 payment of any or all of said assessments and shall be allowed to 
 pay the face of said assessments with interest at six per cent per 
 annum only from the time of recordation to the time of payment. 
 
 To each of such installments of assessments remaining unpaid in 
 the treasurer’s hands on the day herein specified for the payment 
 thereof, a penalty of ten per centum on the principal sum shall be 
 added and any assessment so remaining unpaid in the treasurer’s 
 
48 
 
 hands on such date, shall be taken up on such settlements had with 
 the treasurer on such dates, and thereupon place such assessments 
 with the penalty added thereto, in the hands of the city collector 
 to be treated and considered, and payment thereof enforced in all re¬ 
 spects as hereinbefore provided for the collection of taxes due the 
 city, and they shall be a lien upon the property liable therefor the 
 same as for taxes, which lien may be enforced in the same manner 
 as provided for taxes. The lien hereinbefore provided for shall have 
 priority over all other liens except those for taxes due the state and 
 shall be on a parity with taxes and assessments due the city. When¬ 
 ever all such assessments, for paving, sewerage, macadamizing or 
 other improvements shall be paid in full to the treasurer, he shall 
 deliver to the party paying the same a release of the lien therefor 
 which may be recorded in the office of the clerk of the county court 
 of Kanawha county as other releases of liens, and whenever any such 
 assessments shall not be in the hands of the treasurer for collection, 
 but the same shall be shown to the satisfaction of the citv auditor or 
 other official performing the duties of auditor, to have been paid in 
 full or any officer entitled to receive the same, such auditor or the 
 mayor may in like manner execute such release. 
 
 Sec. 62. Whenever the council shall order the construction of 
 any public sewer in said city, the owners of the property abutting 
 upon any-street in which such sewer shall be constructed, shall be 
 charged with and liable for sewerage assessments as follows. When 
 said sewer is completed the engineer of said city shall report to the 
 council in writing, the total cost of such sewer, and a description 
 of the lots and lands as to the location, frontage, depth and ownership 
 liable for such sewer assessment, so far as the same may be ascer¬ 
 tained, together with the amount chargeable against each lot and 
 owner, estimated on the basis of one dollar per foot for inside lots, 
 and one dollar and twenty-five cents per foot for corner lots, frontage 
 measures on said sewer being considered; and not over forty feet 
 front shall be considered a corner lot, except that such estimate as 
 to the corner lots fronting thereon and having a greater depth than 
 one hundred and fifty feet shall be estimated at one dollar and fifty 
 cents per foot frontage and any lot having a depth of two hundred 
 feet or more and fronting on two streets, one in the front and another 
 in the rear of said lot, shall be assessed on both of said streets, if a 
 sewer is constructed on both streets, or if fronting on a street and 
 running back two hundred feet or more to. an alley shall be assessed 
 on both the street and alley; if a sewer shall be constructed in both 
 
49 
 
 street and alley; where a corner lot has been assessed on one end of 
 it shall not be assessed on the side; and thereupon said council shall 
 give like notice by publication as, is required in case of street paving 
 assessments, and the same rights shall exist as to the persons and 
 property affected and the same duty as to corrections by said council 
 as are prescribed with reference to paving, which report shall in 
 like manner be examined by the council, and if found to be correct or 
 corrected as aforesaid, and such estimated assessments to be a fair 
 and equitable apportionment of the cost of such sewer upon the 
 basis hereinbefore described, it shall enter an order upon its records, 
 setting forth such location, depth, ownership and said amount of 
 such sewer assessments, against each, respectively, calculated as afore¬ 
 said, and the entry of such order shall constitute and be an assess¬ 
 ment for such proposition and amount so fixed therein against such 
 respective owners and lots, and if after such advertisement, notice 
 and hearing, said council shall find that such apportionment at such 
 rate is unjust or inequitable, and contrary to the interest of this 
 act, it shall ascertain, fix and assess the cost thereof among and upon 
 the abutting owners respectively, justly and equitably and according 
 to the intent hereof, and in like manner, assess and enter the amount 
 so fixed respectively upon its records, and the council shall, in either 
 event, thereupon certify the same to the treasurer for collection, and 
 
 certify a copy of such order to the clerk of the county court of Kana- 
 
 « 
 
 wha county, who shall record the same in the proper trust deed book, 
 and index the same in the name of each owner of any such lot so 
 charged with such assessment, and such assessment so made shall 
 constitute and be a lien upon said lots respectively, which shall have 
 priority over all other liens, except those for taxes due the state, and 
 shall be on a parity with other taxes and assessments due the city. 
 Said amounts so assessed against the said several land owners shall 
 be paid by the parties liable therefor to the said treasurer at all 
 times, in the manner and with the attendant penalties for failure to 
 pay promptly at the time prescribed in all respects as hereinbefore 
 provided in the case of assessments for paving streets and alleys in 
 a permanent manner, and the parties liable therefor shall, in the 
 same manner, and to the same extent, have the right and be entitled 
 to anticipate any or all of such installments thereon as in such case 
 provided. The owners of, or the tenants, occupants or agents of any 
 lot abutting on or near or adjacent to any street or alley in said city, 
 on which a public sewer is or may hereafter be laid and constructed, 
 upon which lot any business or residence building is or may hereafter 
 
50 
 
 be erected, or upon which any water stands not connected with a 
 public sewer, may be required and compelled to connect any such 
 building or lot with such sewer. Notice to so connect may be given 
 to the owner, lessee, or occupant of such building. Each day’s failure 
 to comply with such notice and connect with such sewer by such 
 owner or owners, ten days after such notice is given, shall be a mis¬ 
 demeanor and a separate and new offense under this sectioin, and 
 every such offense shall be punishable by fine of not less than five 
 nor more than twenty-five dollars. The expense incurred by any 
 tenant, occupant, or agent in complying with the order of said council 
 to make such sewer connection may be deducted out of the accruing 
 rents as provided for in section sixty-one relating to the abatement 
 of nuisances. Jurisdiction to hear, try, determine and sentence for 
 violation of this section is vested in the police court of such city. 
 
 The liens herein and hereinbefore provided for street paving, 
 macadamizing and sewerage assessments and assessments for other 
 improvements shall constitute liens upon the real estate upon which 
 they are assessed, as against creditors of the owners thereof, or pur¬ 
 chasers for value, and without actual notice of such liens, only from 
 and after the time that the statement thereof certified as aforesaid.. 
 
 shall be filed for record in the office of the clerk of the countv court of 
 
 %/ 
 
 Kanawha county. 
 
 Sec. 63. Whenever it is deemed expedient by the council of said 
 city to provide for the grading, paving, sewering, macadamizing or 
 otherwise improving any street or alley therein to be paid for in whole 
 or in part by special assessment, said council shall declare by reso¬ 
 lution, by aye and no vote, the necessity of such, improvement. At 
 the time of the passage of said resolution the said council shall have 
 on file in the office of the city clerk, plans, specifications, estimates and 
 profiles of the proposed improvements, showing the proposed grade of 
 the street and improvement, after completion, with reference to the 
 property abutting thereon, which plans, specifications, estimates and 
 profiles shall be open for the inspection of all persons interested. Said 
 resolution shall determine the general nature of the improvements, 
 what shall be the grade of the street, alley or other public place to be 
 improved, as well as the grade or elevation of the curb, and said council 
 shall approve the plans, specifications, estimates and profiles for the 
 proposed improvement. The council shall also determine in said 
 resolution the method of paying for the work contemplated in said 
 plans and specifications, whether by an appropriation from funds in 
 the treasury unappropriated, or whether or not bonds shall be issued 
 
 o 
 
51 
 
 in anticipation of the collection of special assessments, to be made 
 against the abutting property owners as provided for in section sixty- 
 one of this act. Assessments shall be payable in ten installments as 
 provided for in said sixty-first section. The resolution herein pro¬ 
 vided for declaring the necessity for said improvement shall be pub¬ 
 lished at least once a week, for two successive weeks after its adoption, 
 in two newspapers published in the city, and of opposite politics, and 
 an affidavit of the publisher showing publication for such time, to¬ 
 gether with a copy of said notice attached, shall be filed with the city 
 clerk of the said city and spread upon the record of the minutes of 
 the next meeting of the council, said resolution shall be in effect from 
 and after the first publication thereof as herein provided for. 
 
 Sec. 64. A notice of the passage of the resolution required in the 
 last preceding section, embodying a copy of said resolution, shall be 
 served upon the owner of each piece of property to be assessed, said 
 service to be made in manner provided by this act for serving notices 
 herein required; provided, that if any of the owners or persons be 
 not residents of the city of Charleston or if it appears by the return, 
 in any case, that the owner cannot be found, then a notice of the 
 passage of said resolution shall be published in some newspaper of 
 general circulation in said city once a week for two successive weeks, 
 and such notice whether by service or publication, shall be completed 
 at least three days before said improvement is begun or the assess¬ 
 ment is levied, and the return of the officer serving such notice or a 
 certified copy of said return, or when published, the certificate of the 
 publisher of said newspaper, shall be prima facie evidence of the 
 service of the notice as herein required. Notice upon infants may be 
 served on their guardian, and upon insane persons, by service upon 
 their committee. 
 
 Sec. 65. The city of Charleston shall pay the cost of paving inter¬ 
 sections of all cross streets, but not including the places where private 
 alleys or private crossings cross sidewalks, which shall be paved by 
 the owner or owners of said private alleys or crossings or at his or 
 their expense; provided, that whenever special assessments shall have 
 hereafter been levied and paid under the provisions of this act for 
 any improvement made aftep this act becomes a law, for the improve¬ 
 ment of any street or other public place (other than sidewalks), the 
 property so assessed shall not again be assessed for more than half 
 of the cost and expense of repaving or repairing such street or other 
 place unless the grade be changed, but this exception shall not apply 
 
52 
 
 to the repaving or repairing of streets or other public places which 
 were paved or improved before the passage of this act. 
 
 Sec. 66. It shall he lawful for said city of Charleston to issue and 
 sell its bonds as provided in this act for the sale of other bonds, to 
 pay the city’s part of the cost of said improvements as required by 
 this act, and may levy taxes in addition to all other taxes authorized 
 by law, to pay such bonds and interest thereon, provided that the total 
 indebtedness of the city for all purposes shall not exceed five per 
 centum of the total value of all taxable property therein. 
 
 Sec. 67. At the expiration of the time for the giving and publica¬ 
 tion of the notices as provided for in section sixty-four, the council 
 shall determine whether it will proceed with the proposed improve¬ 
 ment or not, and if it decides to proceed therewith, an ordinance for 
 the purpose shall be passed ; said ordinance shall set forth the streets 
 and alleys upon which the abutting property is to be assessed for the 
 improvement and shall contain a statement of the general nature of 
 the improvement, and the character of the materials which may be 
 bid upon therefor, of the mode of payments therefor; a reference to 
 the resolution therefor passed for said improvement, giving the date 
 of its passage and a statement of the intention of the council to pro¬ 
 ceed therewith in accordance with said resolution and in accordance 
 with the plans, specifications, estimates and profiles provided for said 
 improvement. In setting forth the lots and lands abutting upon the 
 improvement it shall be sufficient to escribe them as the lots and 
 lands abounding and abutting upon said improvements between and 
 including the termini of said improvements, or by the description by 
 which they are described on the land books of the county of Kanawha, 
 and this rule of description shall apply in all proceedings in which 
 lots or lands are to be charged with a special assessment. 
 
 Sec. 68. In any case in which special assessments have been made, 
 or shall hereafter be made, upon property for the construction of any 
 improvement authorized by this act or previous statutes and several 
 kinds of materials have been named in the ordinance or ordinances 
 providing for the same, and on which bids have been received for 
 the construction of said improvements with any, either or all of said 
 material, said assessments shall be valid and binding assessment on 
 the property so assessed. In the case of the construction of sewers 
 required under the provisions of this act, notice of the passage of said 
 resolution therefor, as provided for in section sixty-four, of this act, 
 shall be given in the manner provided for in said section of this act. 
 
53 
 
 Sec. 69. No public improvement, the cost or part of the cost of 
 which is to be especially assessed on the owners of property, shall be 
 made without the concurrence of three-fifths of all of the members 
 of council unless the owners of a majority of the foot frontage to be 
 assessed petition in writing therefor, in which event the said council 
 shall be authorized upon the affirmative vote of a majority thereof to 
 proceed With the improvement in manner provided for. 
 
 Sec. 70. When the whole or any portion of the improvement 
 authorized by this act passes through or by a public wharf, market 
 space, park, cemetery, structure for the fire department, water works, 
 school building, infirmary, market house, work house, hospital, house 
 of refuge, bridge, gas works, public prisons, court house, church or 
 any other public structure or public grounds within said corporation, 
 and belonging to said corporation or to the county, state, or any 
 church, association, eleemosynary institution, the council may au¬ 
 thorize the proper proportion of the estimated cost and expense of the 
 improvement to be certified to the clerk of the county court of Kan¬ 
 awha county, and it shall be the duty of those persons having charge 
 of the fiscal affairs of any such property or institution to make proper 
 arrangements for the payment of such assessments when due and 
 payable. 
 
 Sec. 71. The cost of any improvements contemplated in this act 
 and for which assessments may be made, shall include the cost and 
 expense of the preliminary and other surveys, and of printing and 
 publishing all notices required to be published, and serving the notices 
 upon the property owners and the cost of constructing and inspection. 
 
 Sec. 72. No person shall bring any action whatever in any court 
 in this state for damage arising out of improvements or change of 
 grade unless he shall have filed with the council at some time after 
 the publication of the notice provided for in section sixty-four, and 
 before the time of the introduction of the ordinance providing for 
 said improvement a statement of the damage which, in his opinion, he 
 will sustain by reason of said improvement or the change of grade 
 therefor, which statement shall be duly sworn to and be spread upon 
 the minutes of said council. 
 
 Sec. 73. Proceedings with respect to improvements shall be liber¬ 
 ally construed by the courts to secure speedy completion of the work 
 at reasonable cost, and a speedy collection of the assessments after 
 the time has elapsed for their payment and merely formal objection 
 in such cases shall be disregarded. 
 
54 
 
 Sec. 74. It is especially provided that no bonds shall be issned 
 under the provisions of this act unless and until the question of 
 issuing said bonds shall have first been submitted to a vote of the 
 people of the city and shall have received three-fifths of all votes cast 
 at said election for or against the same. 
 
 The council may provide by ordinance for an election every year, 
 at which the question shall be submitted to the people, as to whether 
 the city shall be authorized to issue bonds for the purpose and under 
 the provisions of this act, to an amount not to exceed in the ensuing 
 year the amount recommended by said ordinance for said ensuing 
 year; but the ordinance providing for said election need not specify 
 in detail the location of the improvements contemplated to he paid 
 for during the ensuing year out of said aggregate issue authorized for 
 said year, but before issuing any bonds the council shall pass separate 
 ordinances for such street or alley to be improved, dealing with all 
 the requirements set forth in section sixty-seven of this act, and not¬ 
 withstanding the provisions of sections two, three and six of chapter 
 forty-seven of the code, it shall be sufficient description for the pur¬ 
 pose for which said election is held if the ordinance providing for 
 said election shall recite that it authorized the council of said city to 
 issue bonds for the purpose of grading, paving, sewering or otherwise 
 improving the streets and alleys of said city, at such times as the 
 
 council shall deem fit during the ensuing year ending on the- 
 
 day of-, 19—, to an amount not exceeding in the 
 
 aggregate during the said year the sum of-; and when 
 
 the council shall have been once authorized by a vote of the people 
 to issue bonds for the purpose and in a sum not to exceed the amount 
 set forth in the ordinance providing for the said election, no further 
 election shall be necessary for the issuing of bonds during said 
 ensuing year up to the amount stipulated in said ordinance providing 
 for said election, hut the council shall from time to time during said 
 ensuing year, by ordinance authorize the issue of said bonds, in such 
 sums and for the improvement of such streets or alleys as to it may 
 seem best, providing the requirements of this act are complied with. 
 The aggregate amount of bonds authorized by said annual election 
 shall not be exceeded during said ensuing year, unless and except 
 the same be authorized by special election held at a subsequent time in 
 said year and duly called as provided for the calling of the annual 
 bond election. 
 
 The provisions of chapter forty-seven of the code concerning bond 
 
55 
 
 elections shall, so far as they are not in conflict with the provisions 
 of this act, apply to the annual bond elections and special bond elec¬ 
 tions herein provided for. 
 
 Sec. 75. The council may refund the lawful bonded indebt¬ 
 edness of said city by issuing bonds of the city, payable within 
 twenty years, bearing no greater rate of interest than four per 
 cent, but the indebtedness of said city shall not thereby be in¬ 
 creased without the consent of the voters of said city being first 
 had and obtained as provided by law. 
 
 Such bonds shall not be sold nor exchanged for the evidence 
 of said indebtedness of said city for less than par, and there 
 shall be provided a sinking fund that will discharge said bonds 
 as they shall become due. Said bonds shall express on their 
 face that they may be paid at any time after five years at the 
 pleasure of the city. A record shall be kept of all proceedings 
 hereunder; provided, that nothing herein contained shall be 
 
 construed to authorize an increase of the bonded indebtedness 
 of said city beyond the amount authorized by law. Notwith¬ 
 standing the limitations of this and other laws of the state of 
 West Virginia relating to the issue of bonds and other indebt¬ 
 edness, the city of Charleston is hereby authorized upon the 
 affirmative vote of three-fifths of all the votes cast at an election 
 held for said purpose to issue and sell bonds for the purpose of 
 providing the necessary funds for purchasing the ground and 
 erecting a new city building and jail, or a separate jail, a new 
 central fire station or fire stations, buying or building bridges, 
 water works, plants and other public utilities, and a city market 
 or either or any of them. 
 
 The council of said city shall provide for the building of a city 
 jail, and for that purpose m,ay, if necessary, purchase the neces¬ 
 sary land and shall lap such levy for the year one thousand nine 
 hundred and nineteen in addition to all other levies authorized 
 by law, as may be necessary for the purpose of constructing said 
 city jail. The said city council shall also construct within the 
 city of Charleston two public comfort stations, one of which 
 shall be built in that part of Charleston lying east of Elk river, 
 and one of which shall be built in that part of Charleston lying 
 west of Elk river, which stations shall be constructed in a modern 
 and sanitary manner, and council is authorized, if necessary, to 
 purchase such real estate as may be needed for such purposes. 
 
56 
 
 and the city council shall for the year one thousand nine hun¬ 
 dred and twenty lay a sufficient levy, in addition to all other 
 levies authorized by law, to build one of said comfort stations, 
 and for the year one thousand nine hundred and twenty-one, in 
 addition to all other levies authorized by law, lay a sufficient levy 
 to build the other of said public comfort stations, and, in each 
 case, do all things necessary and proper to carry out the general 
 purpose hereby commanded: and in the event said council shall 
 fail, neglect or refuse to lay said levies for the building of said 
 city jail and public comfort stations as herein required, then 
 any voter of said city may, by mandamus proceeding in any 
 court having jurisdiction, compel the council to perform such 
 duty; provided, that the council may, if it so desire, submit to 
 the vote of the people by proper ordinance, the question of 
 issuing bonds for the foregoing purposes, and in the event suck 
 bonds shall be authorized, then such levies shall not be made, 
 and, provided, that no such sale of bonds shall be made so as 
 
 to cause the total indebtedness of said city, for all . purposes, 
 to exceed in the aggregate five per centum on the value of the 
 taxable property therein, as ascertained by the last assessment 
 for state and county taxes previous to the incurring of such 
 indebtedness. ' 
 
 Hospitals, Libraries, Etc. 
 
 Sec. 76. The council shall have the authority to erect, buy, sell 
 and lease all buildings necessary for the use of the city government 
 and to provide for and regulate the same, and to establish and main¬ 
 tain public hospitals, libraries and reading rooms ? and to purchase 
 books, papers and manuscripts therefor, and to receive donations, 
 gifts or bequests for same in trust or otherwise. 
 
 Civil Service Board. 
 
 Sec. 77. For the purpose of making examinations of persons ap¬ 
 plying for offices or positions in the fire department, and prescribing 
 rules for their conduct, the council shall appoint three discreet per¬ 
 sons, who need not be members of council, who shall act and be known 
 as a civil service board, and the city clerk shall be ex-officio clerk of 
 said board. 
 
 The civil service board shall adopt rules for its own government 
 
« 
 
 57 
 
 and cause the minutes of its meeting to be recorded in a book especially 
 provided for that purpose, which shall be kept by the city clerk at his 
 office, and open to public inspection. The civil service board, at least 
 every six months in each year and oftener if it deems it necessary, after 
 ten days’ notice published in two daily newspapers of opposite politics, 
 giving the time and place of meeting, shall hold examinations for the 
 purpose of determining the fitness and qualifications of applicants 
 for offices and positions in the fire department, which examinations 
 shall be practicable and shall fairly test the fitness of the person 
 examined to discharge the duties of the position to which they seek 
 appointment and such examinations shall be made with the aim to 
 secure and maintain an honest and efficient fire department. Said 
 board shall at once, after each of said examinations, place on record 
 in the journal of the civil service board the results of said examina¬ 
 tion, giving the name of applicants and the position sought by them 
 and their respective percentages. In making such examination the 
 size, weight, intelligence, health, physical appearance, habits and 
 moral standing and surroundings shall be taken into consideration. 
 
 All persons examined by said service board receiving a general 
 average of seventy per cent, shall be placed upon an eligible list, and 
 thereafter all appointments, whether original or to fill vacancies 
 therein from time to time, shall be filled by the appointment of the 
 applicant who has the highest standing on the eligible list; provided 
 if at the time any appointment is to be made from the eligible list, 
 the civil service board, in its discretion, may make another examina¬ 
 tion of such person before his appointment and may for good cause 
 on such examination change the grade of such applicant. 
 
 Sec. 78. The members of the fire department under and by virtue 
 of the ordinance and regulations adopted in pursuance of the pro¬ 
 visions of the charter of the city of Charleston as it was on January 1, 
 1915, now in office in the city of Charleston shall remain in office 
 during good behavior and shall not be removed from their said offices 
 or positions except for misconduct, or failure, inability or incapacity 
 to perform their duties or for the good of the service, or when it shall 
 be necessary to reduce the number in the department ; provided , that 
 the first mayor elected under this act may, within sixty days after 
 qualifying as such, remove any member of the fire department now in 
 office if he shall be of opinion that it will be for the good of the 
 service to remove such person from his position. 
 
 All persons appointed to positions in the fire department, except 
 
58 
 
 the chief thereof, shall be appointed in the manner provided in section 
 seventy-seven. 
 
 Sec. 79. No member of the fire department or police department 
 shall actively engage in any primary election, convention or election 
 in which any officer in the city, county or state is to he nominated or 
 elected, nor shall such member, directly or indirectly, give or offer to 
 give, contribute or offer to contribute, any money or thing of value or 
 profit to any political committee or party organization to be expended 
 in behalf of any political party, nor to any candidate or candidates for 
 nomination for or election to any office in the city, county or state. 
 The violation of any of the provisions of this section by any member 
 of the fire department or police department shall be deemed mis¬ 
 conduct in office. Any member of the fire department or police de¬ 
 partment guilty of misconduct, shall he dismissed from the service of 
 the city by the head of his department or by council, upon charges 
 preferred and proven by any citizen of said city. 
 
 Sec. 80. The council shall hear and determine all charges against 
 any officer of, or person holding a position in the fire department, 
 after ten days’ written notice to the accused of the charges preferred 
 against him, and of the time and place of hearing of said charges and 
 an opportunity shall be given to the accused to be heard. After hear¬ 
 ing said charges the council may, by a majority vote of its members 
 sustain the same, and by like vote may reprimand, fine or suspend, 
 dismiss or reinstate said accused person. Upon the making of such 
 charges, and pending trial thereon, the chief of the fire department, 
 when the provocation is great, may suspend the accused officer, and 
 if he be thereafter found guilty on the charges preferred, and by reason 
 thereof dismissed, or suspended, he shall draw no salary during the 
 period of his suspension. 
 
 Serving Notice. 
 
 Sec. 81. When any notice is required,to be given, or any summons, 
 warrant or other process is required to be served or otherwise executed, 
 under the provisions of this act, it shall be sufficient if such notice, 
 summons, warrant, or other process be executed by an officer of the 
 police department of said city in the same way or manner in which 
 the laws of the state prescribe for executing summonses and subpoenas 
 by state officers, unless othewise provided by this act. 
 
 Sec. 82. The first election hereunder shall be held on the third 
 Monday in April, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, or in the 
 
59 
 
 event this act does not take effect in time, it shall he held at the time 
 hereinbefore provided, and the officers then elected shall begin their 
 terms on the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, 
 or as hereinbefore provided, and thereafter all elections, except special 
 elections, shall be held on the third Monday of April, in every second 
 year thereafter; and the terms of office of the persons so elected shall 
 begin on the first day of May next after such election. The term of 
 office of all the officers of the city now in office, heretofore elected or 
 appointed, are hereby extended and continued till the first day of 
 May ? one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, and until their suc¬ 
 cessors, under the provisions of this act, shall be elected and qualified. 
 The council shall be a canvassing board to ascertain and declare the 
 result of the election, to determine and settle ties as herein provided 
 for, and to hear and determine all contests. The council shall assem¬ 
 ble in special session on the day fixed by law to canvass the result of 
 any election; and all the powers concerning elections, given to the 
 county court by general law, are hereby vested in the council, except 
 as hereinbefore provided. Whenever one or more members of the 
 council shall be a candidate for re-election, it shall be the duty of 
 council to meet and appoint some person or persons, qualified to act 
 on the canvassing board, to serve as such in the appointment of elec¬ 
 tion officers and in canvassing and declaring the results of any elec¬ 
 tion and hearing contested election matters and cases. The place 
 and stead of such disqualified member or members shall be filled in 
 each case by a member or members of the same political party as the 
 person or persons respectively, in whose place or places he or they 
 are so appointed. Every person so appointed shall take an oath of 
 office to faithfully and impartially perform the duties of said office. 
 In all matters concerning said election thereafter and the canvassing 
 and declaring the results thereof and the hearing of contests in rela¬ 
 tion thereto, such person or persons so appointed shall act in the 
 plac'e and stead of such member or members, so being candidates, and 
 it shall be unlawful for any member of the council to act as such in 
 the appointment of election officers or in ascertaining and declaring 
 the result of any election, in hearing any contest in relation thereto, 
 when such member is a candidate at such election; and any one 
 violating this section shall be deemed ineligible to the office for which 
 he is a candidate. 
 
 Sec. 83. The city clerk, acting under state laws insofar as they 
 are not in conflict with this act, shall perform such duties relating 
 
 \ 
 
60 
 
 to all municipal elections held under the municipal authorities of 
 said city as the clerks of the county and circuit courts of Kanawha 
 county perform, under state laws in relation to state, county and 
 district elections in said county ; and he shall likewise be the cus¬ 
 todian of all ballots, tally sheets, etc., pertaining to all municipal 
 elections. 
 
 Existing Officers and Ordinances. 
 
 Sec. 84. The mayor, board of affairs, common council and all 
 other officers, agents and employees of the city of Charleston shall 
 remain in and hold their offices and discharge the duties thereof 
 until the first day of May, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, 
 and thereafter until their successors are elected and qualified as pro¬ 
 vided by this act, and all existing offices not provided for by this act, 
 shall be abolished as of the first day of May, one thousand nine hun¬ 
 dred and fifteen, or as soon thereafter as this act shall take effect. 
 
 All valid ordinances and regulations passed and adopted by the 
 council, or by the board of affairs and council on or before the first 
 day of May, one thousand nine hundred and fifteen, and not incon¬ 
 sistent with this act, shall be and remain in force unless and until 
 repealed, and the council now in office shall continue to exercise its 
 powers as such until the officers elected in one thousand nine hundred 
 and fifteen shall have been qualified. 
 
 Sec. 85. The mayor shall appoint such number of policemen as 
 are or may be hereafter prescribed by the city council by ordinance, 
 and the mayor shall have at his discretion, the absolute right and 
 power to dismiss any policeman and appoint another in his stead. 
 The policemen shall be under the command of the mayor and the 
 chief of police, to be appointed as in this act provided for, and shall 
 perform any and all the duties incident to the office of policemen 
 under the instructions and command of the mayor and the chief of 
 police, and, in addition to the usual and customary duties prescribed 
 by the laws of this state and under the provisions of this charter re¬ 
 quired of them, it shall specially be the duty of each police officer to 
 report to the chief of police, or some one designated by said chief of 
 police to receive such report, daily and oftener if occasion demands, 
 the condition of all streets, sidewalks, alleys, basements, backyards, 
 buildings, unimproved lots and all other things and matters within 
 the limits of said city that may come under the notice of such police¬ 
 men which may relate to the health of the citizens thereof, the sani¬ 
 tary conditions, the necessity of the removal of any obstructions upon 
 
 / 
 
61 
 
 any of the streets, alleys or sidewalks, and it shall be the duty of the 
 policemen under their instructions to perform all the duties and 
 exercise all the powers ordinarily imposed upon or given to the officers 
 now known as health officers. It shall also be the duty of each police 
 officer to perform all the duties of humane officer and to exercise all 
 the functions, power and authority relating thereto which are or may 
 be prescribed by any law of this state or ordinance of the city. 
 
 Sec. 86. Each member of the city council shall be paid during his 
 term of office the sum of two dollars and fifty cents for each meet¬ 
 ing of the council that he shall attend; provided, that the aggregate 
 amount to be paid to each member of the council shall not exceed 
 the sum of one hundred dollars per annum. The roll of the members 
 of the council shall be called at the beginning and at the end of each 
 meeting thereof, and those members only who answer in person at 
 each roll call shall be entitled to receive their pay for such meeting. 
 The names of those members present at each roll call shall be entered 
 upon the record. If there should not be a quorum present at the first 
 roll call and the meeting be adjourned for that reason, then it shall 
 not be a meeting that will entitle those present to the payment of 
 the sum of two dollars and fifty cents as provided in this section. It 
 shall be the duty of all councilmen to attend all of its meetings, and 
 if any councilman shall be absent from the meetings of council as 
 shown by its record for three consecutive meetings, then his office shall 
 ipso facto become vacant unless the council shall authorize or excuse 
 such absence. If the office of any councilman shall become vacant 
 under the provisions of this section, then the council shall proceed to 
 fill the same as it is authorized' to do in the case of vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 87. It shall be the dut} r of the manager, not later than the 
 tenth day of any month after his appointment, to make a detailed 
 report to the council for the preceding month. Such report shall 
 show under distinct heads, first, the names and salaries of all em¬ 
 ployees under the control and supervision of the manager; second, all 
 expenditures or disbursements in the several departments under the 
 supervision of the manager; third, an itemized statement of all pur¬ 
 chases, together with the cost thereof, for each and every such de¬ 
 partment; fourth, all such other matters and things as the council 
 may by proper ordinance or resolution require of said manager. 
 Such report shall be entered of record in the minutes of the council 
 and be a public record, open to the inspection of all persons. All 
 officers or employees in any of the departments under the supervision 
 
62 
 
 of the manager shall, whenever required by said manager, make full 
 and complete reports of all things done by them as such officers or 
 employees in connection with the business of the city. 
 
 Sec. 88. In addition to the method provided for paving 
 streets, hy section sixty-one of the charter of the city of Charles¬ 
 ton, the council may order any block, street, avenue or alley to 
 be paved or otherwise permanently improved , and the council 
 may order the mayor and city cleric to issue to the contractor 
 doing the paving, or other permanent improvement, a certificate 
 for each installment of the amount of the assessment to be paid 
 by the owner of any lot or fractional part thereof fronting on 
 such street, avenue or. alley, and the amount specified in said 
 assessment certificate shall be a lien as aforesaid in the hands 
 of the holder thereof upon the lot or part of a lot fronting on 
 such street, avenue or alley and such certificate shall draw interest 
 from the date of said assessment and the payment may be en¬ 
 forced in the name of the holder of said such certificate by 
 proper suit in equity in any court having proper jurisdiction to 
 enforce such lien, and the council shall fix the amount of such 
 assessment, advertise for bids and do all other things in con¬ 
 nection therewith as is provided for paving or permanently im¬ 
 proving any street or alley or any portion thereof in section 
 sixty-one, and such certificates shall be issued in the same num¬ 
 ber of installments and payable at the same time as other paving 
 or permanent improvements are provided to be paid for and 
 shall be a lien in the hands of the holder thereof upon the partic¬ 
 ular lot against ivhich they are assessed in the same way and 
 manner that assessments are liens under section sixty-one of 
 said charter. 
 
 Such certificates as may be issued pursuant to the foregoing 
 section shall contain a provision to the effect that in the event of 
 default in the payment of any one of said certificates, when due, 
 and said default shall continue for a period of sixty (60) days, 
 then all unpaid certificates shall become due and payable and 
 the holder of said certificates may proceed to collect all of such 
 unpaid certificates in the manner hereinbefore provided. 
 
 Provided, that no street, avenue or alley shall be 'paved or 
 otherwise permanently improved'pursuant to this section except 
 and unless two-thirds of all the members elected to council shall 
 concur therein. 
 
63 
 
 Initiative , Referendum and Recall. 
 
 Sec. 89. Any proposed ordinance, or amendment to any ordinance 
 already in effect, may be submitted to the city council by the petition 
 of qualified voters in said city, but such petition must be signed by 
 such number of voters as shall amount to at least ten per cent of the 
 number of votes cast for the office of mayor at the last preceding 
 municipal election. Such proposed ordinance, or amendment to an 
 ordinance, shall be passed without alteration or change by the city 
 council within thirty days after such petition is filed, or the city 
 council shall, in lieu of passing such ordinance or amendment to an 
 ordinance, submit such proposed ordinance, or amendment to an 
 ordinance, in the manner hereinafter prescribed for ratification or 
 rejection to the qualified voters of the city at the next regular muni¬ 
 cipal election which is to be held not less than sixty days after such 
 petition is filed. If such petition contains a request for a special 
 election and is signed by sufficient qualified voters to equal in num¬ 
 ber at least fifteen per cent of the vote so cast for the office of mayor 
 at the last preceding regular municipal election, the ordinance or 
 amendment thereby proposed shall be passed by the city council with¬ 
 out amendment or change, within thirty days after such petition is 
 filed, or the city council shall submit such proposed ordinance or 
 amendment for ratification or rejection to the qualified voters at a 
 special election which shall be called within thirty days and held not 
 less than sixty nor more than ninety days after such petition is filed, 
 unless a'general or special election is fixed by law to be held within 
 said period of time. In the latter event, said proposed ordinance or 
 amendment shall be submitted far ratification or rejection at such 
 election. The city council shall cause such proposed ordinance or 
 amendment to be printed and published in some newspaper of general 
 circulation in the city once each week from the time the council de¬ 
 cides to submit the same to the voters until such election is held. Nb 
 ordinance or amendment to an ordinance adopted by the voters at 
 any such election shall be repealed or amended by the city council. 
 
 The ballot used for any such election shall have printed on it the 
 title of each ordinance, or amendment to an ordinance, submitted 
 for ratification or rejection and on separate lines under said title the 
 words “for said ordinance” and “against said ordinance” (or the 
 amended part thereof, as the case may be). If a majority of the 
 qualified voters of the city voting on any proposed ordinance, shall 
 vote in favor thereof, the same shall thereupon become a valid ordi- 
 
64 
 
 nance and be in full force and effect at the expiration of the period 
 of ten days from and after said election. If two or more ordinances, 
 or amendment* to ordinances, adopted at the same election are in¬ 
 consistent, then the respective ordinance, or amendment to an ordi¬ 
 nance, receiving the largest affirmative vote at such election shall 
 prevail, and the form of submission of inconsistent ordinances, or 
 parts thereof, or amendments to ordinances, shall be in such form 
 that the voters may clearly express their choice. 
 
 Sec. 90. No ordinance passed by the city council shall take effect 
 
 until the expiration of thirty days after its final passage and one 
 publication thereof in some newspaper printed and circulated in said 
 city, except an ordinance calling a special election or necessary for 
 the immediate preservation of the public health or public safety. If 
 within said period of thirty days a petition signed by sufficient quali¬ 
 fied voters of said city, being in number at least fifteen per cent of 
 the votes cast for all the candidates for the office of mayor at the last 
 preceding regular municipal election, shall be filed protesting against 
 such ordinance, or any part thereof, taking effect, such ordinance, or 
 such part thereof so protested against, shall thereupon and thereby 
 be suspended from taking effect, and the city council shall immedi¬ 
 ately again consider the same, and if it be not repealed or so amended 
 as to meet the requirements of the said protest, the city council 
 shall submit the same for ratification or rejection t,o the quali¬ 
 fied voters of the city at the next regular municipal election which 
 shall be held not more than thirty days after such petition is filed, 
 or at a special election to be called thereafter by the city council 
 for that purpose to be held in not less than sixty days nor more than 
 ninety days after such petition is filed, and such ordinance, or part 
 thereof so protested, shall not take effect unless a majority of the 
 votes cast at such election thereon shall be for the ratification thereof. 
 If such petition shall only be signed by sufficient qualified voters to 
 equal in number at least five per cent but not sufficient to equal in 
 number at least fifteen per cent of the votes cast for the candidates 
 for said office of mayor at the last preceding municipal election, the 
 city council shall submit such ordinance, or such part thereof so pro¬ 
 tested, for ratification or rejection at the next ensuing regular muni¬ 
 cipal election which is to be held more than thirty days after sucTT 
 petition is filed. The city council may, on its own motion without 
 any petition being required therefor, submit at a regular or special 
 municipal election any ordinance passed by it in the same manner 
 
65 
 
 and with the same force and effect as hereinbefore provided. No 
 ordinance, or part of an ordinance, rejected at any election shall be 
 enacted or passed by the city council within the period of twelve 
 months thereafter. 
 
 Sec. 91. Any officer of the city of Charleston elected by the voters 
 under the provisions of this act, may be recalled and the office de¬ 
 clared vacant as provided in this act. Such officer may be removed 
 from office by a recall election held thereunder, but no such officer 
 shall he removed from office within the period of four months after 
 he enters upon the discharge of his duties as such. Before any such 
 recall election shall be held a petition, stating the name or names 
 and the office or the officer or officers sought to he recalled, and signed 
 by sufficient qualified voters of the said city as shall equal in number 
 the quantity of twenty-five per cent of the votes cast in the whole 
 city or in the ward, as the case may be, for all the candidates for the 
 office of mayor at the last preceding regular municipal election, and 
 containing a sworn statement of the grounds upon which it is sought 
 to remove the said officer or officers, shall be filed with the citv clerk. 
 No such petition shall be filed within the period of six months before 
 the end of the term of such officer. The city council shall immedi¬ 
 ately, upon the filing of said petition, call a special election in the 
 manner in this act provided for calling special elections and submit 
 to the voters the question of recalling such officer or officers. The 
 ballot at such election, with respect to each person whose recall is 
 sought, shall be substantially as follows: “Shall (name of person) 
 be removed from the office of (name of office) by recall.” Immediately 
 following such question there shall be on the printed ballot the two 
 propositions in the order set forth: 
 
 “For the recall of (name of person).” 
 
 “Against the recall of (name of person).” 
 
 Immediately to the left of said proposition shall be printed a 
 square in which the voter, by making a cross mark (X), or in 
 some other way declaring their intention, may vote for either of 
 such propositions. If sixty per cent of the qualified voters voting on 
 said propositions vote in favor of the recall of such officer or officers, 
 then he or they shall thereby be forthwith removed from such office 
 and such vacancy or vacancies shall be filled as provided in this act; 
 provided, however, that within fifteen days after the returns of such 
 recall election shall have been canvassed by the city council, a petition 
 signed by sufficient qualified voters to equal in number at least thirty 
 
66 
 
 per cent of the votes cast in the city, or ward, as the case may be, 
 for the candidates for the office of mayor at the last preceding regular 
 municipal election, and praying that such vacancy or vacancies be 
 filled by a special election to be held not less than thirty days nor 
 more than forty-five days thereafter, the city council shall order a 
 special election to be held in the same manner as other special elec¬ 
 tions are provided for in this act for the purpose of filling such 
 vacancy or vacancies. 
 
 Sec. 92. The signatures to petitions filed under the provisions of 
 the last three sections need not be all on one paper or one sheet of 
 paper, but separate petitions may be circulated and signed and the 
 aggregate number of names on all of such petitions, if equal to the 
 number required in this act, shall be sufficient. The circulator of each 
 such paper shall make and append thereto an affidavit that each 
 signature thereon is the signature of the person whose name it pur¬ 
 ports to be. The residence address of each signer shall accompany 
 the signature. All such petitions shall be filed with the city clerk 
 and shall be deemed and held to be sufficient if they appear to be 
 signed by the requisite number of signers and such signers shall be 
 deemed and held to be qualified voters, unless a protest in writing, 
 under oath, shall be filed with the city clerk by some qualified voter 
 within five days after such petitions are filed, which protest shall set 
 forth the name of each signer protested against and the ground there¬ 
 for. It shall be the duty of the city clerk as soon as possible and 
 within twenty-four hours after the filing of such protest to mail a 
 notice to each signer so protested against at his address as given in 
 the petition, requiring him to be and appear before the city registrars 
 at a time fixed in said notice, not less than twenty-four hours nor 
 more than forty-eight hours after the mailing of such notice, for the 
 purpose of defending his right to sign said petition. If it shall be 
 proven by satisfactory evidence that such person is not a qualified 
 signer of such petition, then his name shall be stricken therefrom. 
 All evidence taken shall be under oath, and any signer present at the 
 hearing may be called as a witness by the protestant or testify in his 
 own behalf. All hearings shall be summary and shall be concluded 
 within fifteen days after such petition is filed. The city registrars 
 shall forthwith certify the result of their examination to the city 
 clerk and such city clerk shall serve a copy of such certificate upon the 
 person or persons named in the petitiion as representing the signers 
 thereof. In the event the petition shall be insufficient under the pro¬ 
 visions of this act it may be withdrawn by the person or persons named 
 
67 
 
 therein as representing the signers thereof and may within fifteen days 
 thereafter be amended and added to and refiled as an original petition. 
 When the petition contains a sufficient number of qualified signatures 
 the city registrars shall forthwith file the same with the city clerk, and 
 he shall transmit the same to the city council, which shall call an 
 election as provided for in the three preceding sections of this act. All 
 petitions filed in the city clerk’s office shall be public records. When 
 any petition contains a form of submission of the ordinance petitioned 
 for and such form is a reasonably fair description thereof, the same 
 shall be placed on the ballot and no petition filed subsequently shall 
 be permitted to use any form of submission that is so similar to the 
 one previously filed as to tend to confuse the voter, and, in case of 
 such conflict, the person presenting the subsequent petition may file a 
 form of submission which shall be placed upon the ballot, provided 
 the same shall fairly describe the ordinance, or amendment to an 
 ordinance, petitioned for and shall not be in conflict with any prior 
 forms of submission or tend to confuse the voter. 
 
 The city council shall so frame all forms of submission that the 
 voter can, by making a cross in a square in front of some appropriate 
 words, vote either for the ratification or the rejection of the proposed 
 measure, but no ballot shall be -rejected from which the reasonable 
 intention of the voter, however he shall have marked the same, can 
 be ascertained. All city elections, regular or special, shall conform 
 as nearly as possible to the election statutes contained in chapter 
 three of the code of West Virginia. 
 
 Sec. 93. In addition to the method of securing the laying of 
 sidewalks set out in section forty-nine of this chapter, the coun¬ 
 cil of said city may cause any sidewalk to be constructed, laid', 
 relaid, or otherwise permanently improved in the city of Charles¬ 
 ton in the following manner and upon the following terms: 
 Notice shall first be given the abutting property owners by pub¬ 
 lication in two newspapers of opposite politics by giving location, 
 estimated frontage and depth, but no error in said publication 
 shall in any way effect the validity of the certificates hereinafter 
 provided for, or any of them. The contract for same shall, after 
 due advertisement in which council shall reserve the right to 
 reject any and all bids, be let to the lowest responsible bidder and 
 upon completion and acceptance of the work, council shall order 
 the mayor and city clerk to issue to the contractor doing the work 
 a certificate for the amount of the assessment to be paid by the 
 owner of any lot or fractional part thereof fronting on such side- 
 
68 
 
 walk, and the amount specified in said assessment certificate 
 shall be a lien in the hands of the holder thereof upon the lot or 
 part of a lot fronting on such sidewalk and such certificate shall 
 draw interest from the date of said assessment, and the payment 
 may be enforced in the name of the holder of such certificate by 
 a proper suit in equity in any court having proper jurisdiction 
 to enforce such liens, and council shall fix the amount of such 
 assessments and do all things in connection therewith necessary 
 to make them valid and do all other things in connection there¬ 
 with as is provided for paving or improving streets and alleys 
 and such certificates shall be issued one for each abutting lot or 
 portion thereof payable six months from the date of the com¬ 
 pletion and acceptance of the work and shall be a lien in the 
 hands of the holder thereof upon the particular lot against which 
 they are assessed in the same way and manner that assessments 
 for street paving liens under the other provisions of the afore¬ 
 said act creating and amending the charter of the city of Charles¬ 
 ton; provided, however, that council shall not order any but 
 
 concrete sidewalks; and, provided, further, that council shall not 
 
 advertise for bids for any one letting of less than five thousand 
 square feet; a?id, further provided, that council shall not receive 
 
 any bids or let any sidewalk contract between the first day of 
 October and the first day of March of any years. Nothing in 
 this section shall be so construed as to prevent any abutting lot 
 owner from having his own sidewalk put in if done before the 
 advertising hereinbefore mentioned and provided same is done 
 according to the lines, grades and specifications of the city en¬ 
 gineer, for which no charge shall be made. The total cost of con¬ 
 structing, laying, relaying, or otherwise permanently improving 
 any sidewalk or walks shall be borne by the owners of the land 
 abutting upon said sidewalk or sidewalks according to the follow¬ 
 ing plan, that is to say, payment is to be made according to the 
 proportion of square feet in front of any lot or portion thereof 
 bears to the whole letting. The contract for sidewalks referred 
 to in this section does not necessarily have to be one continuous 
 sidewalk, but the five thousand square feet required for a letting 
 as aforesaid may be made up of or composed of any number of 
 sidewalks in any parts of the city. 
 
 Sec. 93-a. The county assessor shall furnish transcript of 
 real and personal property on or about the tenth day of Septem- 
 
69 
 
 ber of each year and his fee for same shall be not less than four 
 hundred nor more than seven hundred dollars for mch work. 
 
 Sec. 9Jf-. The police judge, mayor and city clerk shall each 
 have authority to issue process for all offenses committed within 
 the police jurisdiction of the city of Charleston for all violations 
 of any city ordinances. Any vacancy in the office of police judge 
 shall be filled by appointment by the mayor until the next elec¬ 
 tion. 
 
 Sec. 95. No ordinance passed by the city council shall take 
 effect until five days after its final passage and' one publication of 
 the caption or title thereof only shall be made during said five 
 days in some daily newspaper printed and circulated in said city, 
 except an ordinance necessary for the immediate preservation of 
 the public health or public safety. Such caption of title shall 
 distinctly state the full purport of the ordinance so passed and 
 printed. 
 
 Sec. 96. The health commissioner shall be a physician of good 
 standing in his profession and shall devote his time to city work 
 alone. It shall be his duty to administer to all charity cases that 
 he may, in his discretion, deem deserving. lie shall in conjunc¬ 
 tion with the city manager, have charge of the general health 
 and sanitation of the city and it shall be his duty to carefully in¬ 
 vestigate all complaints and make a careful detailed report of 
 all his official acts as health commissioner to the city manager 
 and council at least once every month. He shall be appointed in 
 the way and manner provided in the charter of the city of 
 Charleston and shall receive such salary as council may by ordi¬ 
 nance prescribe. Nothing herein, however, shall be construed as 
 in any way affecting the police officers of the city relative to their 
 powers and duties in regard to city sanitation contained and set 
 forth elsewhere in said charter. 
 
 Sec. 97, It shall be the duty of the mayor to appoint a reputa¬ 
 ble woman who shall be known as police matron, and such police 
 matron shall have all the qualifications and be subject to all the 
 provisions of chapter eighteen of the acts of the legislature of 
 one thousand nine hundred and eleven. The council of the city 
 of Charleston shall provide a reasonable salary not to exceed 
 twelve hundred dollars therefor and do all of the things required 
 by the council under the provisions of said chapter eighteen of 
 the acts of the legislature of one thousand nine hundred and 
 eleven and any amendments thereto. 
 
70 
 
 Sec. 98. The city council shall cause any contract for the 
 codifying and indexing of all the ordinances of the city to be 
 fully completed, and such ordinances shall include all in force 
 and effect up to the last day possible. Before such work is ac¬ 
 cepted by the council, it shall be completed in every respect and 
 the council shall then cause it to be properly printed and securely 
 bound in a permanent book. The council may by ordinance 
 adopt the code to be prepared as a whole and when said ordinance 
 adopting said code shall have been passed by the council the said 
 code shall . be and become the law and ordinances of 
 said city up to such time according to the tenor and effect there¬ 
 of, and when printed in a book, the same shall be received as 
 evidence as the ordinances of said city, unless errors or omissions 
 be affirmatively shown therein, and no other publication thereof 
 shall be made or required under the charter, and the council shall 
 cause all the ordinances of said city, either by printing a supple¬ 
 ment thereof, to be brought up to date within a reasonable time 
 after the printing of such ordinances, and in any event such sup¬ 
 plement shall be printed, or, if necessary, a new copy of the 
 ordinances shall be printed within every four years, and the 
 council shall cause a sufficient number of said books of the ordi¬ 
 nances to be printed and to sell such number thereof as it may 
 do so at such price as may be reasonable, and the number of books 
 printed shall be fixed by the council. 
 
 Sec. 99. It shall be the duty of the city of Charleston to pro¬ 
 vide suitable and proper places for the burial of the dead, which 
 places may be in or out of the corporate limits of the said city 
 The city shall cause such places to be laid off into cemetery lots 
 in a reasonable and proper way and shall sell said lots for a rea¬ 
 sonable price, but it may take into consideration the location of 
 each of such lots in fixing the prices thereof. The city council 
 shall have all the powers and rights of condemnation of any real 
 estate that it may wish for such purpose in the manner provided 
 by law, and it may require by means of condemnation any real, 
 estate which has already been laid out as a cemetery by any per¬ 
 son, association or corporation. 
 
 No burials of the bodies of deceased persons shall hereafter be 
 permitted within the incorporated limits of the city of Charles¬ 
 ton or ivithin the space of one mile of such incorporated limits 
 without the. permission of said city shall be first had and ob¬ 
 tained, and the city of Charleston, through its proper authorities, 
 
71 
 
 shall have power to pass all proper ordinances providing suitable 
 penalties to carry out the powers here given said city. 
 
 No moneys received from the sale of lots in any cemetery so 
 owned, or hereafter owned, by said city shall be used for any 
 other purpose than the proper care and preparation of the 
 ground, upkeep and expenses of said cemetery, the roads and 
 ways to and through the same and for the purchase of additional 
 property for cemetery purposes. Provided, however, that nothing 
 
 herein contained shall in anywise affect any person, firm or cor¬ 
 poration now lawfully engaged in the sale of cemetery lots, unless 
 such property be acquired by the city through purchase or con¬ 
 demnation. 
 
 Sec. 100. The building inspector shall be a competent person 
 for the duties of his office and shall devote all his time to city, 
 work. He shall not be engaged or interested in the building 
 business in any way or manner. The council shall by ordinance 
 fix a proper salary for him,. He shall see that the ordinances of 
 the city and laws of the state concerning buildings are enforced 
 and perform such other duties as the manager or council may 
 direct. 
 
 Sec. 101. The council shall have power to buy, sell or ex¬ 
 change any real estate found necessary or convenient, in the 
 opening, construction, straightening, widening, or otherwise 
 altering of any street, alley or public way within the city. and by 
 resolution and proper deed to convey to any person, firm or cor¬ 
 poration any land used, or heretofore or hereafter used, for street 
 or other public purpose, when in the judgment of the council 
 such land shall no longer be needed for such public use. 
 
INDEX 
 
 i 1,1 
 
 Section 
 
 Action for damages . 72 
 
 Advertising. 7 
 
 Alleys . 7 
 
 Appeals . 44 
 
 Papers . 44 
 
 Appointment of officers. 35 
 
 Assessor, county . 93-a 
 
 Authority of city. 6-7 
 
 Auditing . 13 
 
 Ballots, how prepared. 12 
 
 Commissioner . 83 
 
 Bail, how given . 46 
 
 Bonds, refunding . 75 
 
 Bonds, of officers . 25 
 
 By whom taken. 25 
 
 Issue of . 60-74 
 
 Where deposited. 25 
 
 Boundary of wards . 3 
 
 Of city . 2 
 
 Bribery . .... 32 
 
 Bridges . 6-7-59-75 
 
 City may own. 59 
 
 Building regulations. 7 
 
 Inspector . 35-100' 
 
 Burial of dead . 99 
 
 Candidates, nomination of. 10 
 
 Qualifications of. 4 
 
 Capitation Tax . 51 
 
 Cemetery . 99 
 
 City building ... f . 7 
 
 Records to be kept. 20 
 
 City jail . 75 
 
 City clerk, appointment of. 35 
 
 Copy register of voters. 9 
 
74 
 
 Clerk of council. 28 
 
 Police judge. 45 
 
 May take bond . 45 
 
 Bond of. 25 
 
 Certify assessment .. 61 
 
 Civil Service Board . 77 
 
 As to elections . 83 
 
 City collector, appointment of. 5 
 
 Bond of .'. 25 
 
 Duties of.. 52 
 
 To collect claims. 53 
 
 City elections ... .*. 7 
 
 City funds, where deposited. 58 
 
 City solicitor .w. 35 
 
 Duties of. 35 
 
 Salary of. 35 
 
 Civil Service Board . 77-78 
 
 City code. 42-98 
 
 Comfort stations . 75 
 
 Commissioners of Election. 11 
 
 Committees, appointment of. 39 
 
 Commitment of prisoners. 44 
 
 Term of . 44 
 
 Contempts. 33 
 
 Corporation limits. 2 
 
 Corporate powers . 6-7 
 
 Councilmen, number of . 13 
 
 Term of office . 35 
 
 Qualifications . 13 ' 
 
 Bribery of.<.. 32 
 
 Salary of . 86 
 
 Vacation of office . 13-19 
 
 Council, power of. 6-7-13-17-101 
 
 Meetings of . 20 
 
 Special meetings . 22 
 
 Minutes of. 20-28 
 
 To meet at city building. 20 
 
 May order sanitation . 47 
 
 Regulate sidewalks . 49-93 
 
 Provide for paving. 60-61-69 
 
 Provide for sewers . 62 
 
 f. 
 
75 
 
 * 
 
 Hear charges against officers .., 
 
 Canvassing board. 
 
 How vacated . 
 
 May not act while candidate .. 
 
 Damages, suits for . 
 
 Dogs, taxes on . 
 
 Domain, eminent .. 
 
 Elections, time and place of holding 
 
 Contested .. 
 
 / 
 
 Precincts. 
 
 Canvassing board. 
 
 Oaths of commissioners.. 
 
 City clerk .. 
 
 Iniative, referendum . 
 
 Conform to state laws . 
 
 Electric wiring .„.. 
 
 Eminent domain . 
 
 Failure to qualify .. 
 
 Ferries . 
 
 Finance . 
 
 Fines . 
 
 Fire department . 
 
 Chief of . 
 
 Civil Service . 
 
 Mayor may remove. 
 
 Appointment of. 
 
 Members at elections . 
 
 Stations for . 
 
 Fires, prevention of . 
 
 Fireworks, use and sale. 
 
 Franchise, how granted . 
 
 Value of . 
 
 Votes to pass . 
 
 Publication of . 
 
 Gaming . 
 
 Gas works, city may own. 
 
 Health commissioner. 
 
 Hospitals, city may establish. 
 
 Improvements, cost of . 
 
 Initiative. 
 
 Inspection of building . 
 
 . 80 
 23-82 
 . 86 ' 
 . 82 
 . 72 
 
 7-51 
 7 
 
 . 82 
 . 23 
 
 3 
 
 . 82 
 . 83 
 
 . 83 
 
 89-90 
 . 92 
 
 7 
 7 
 7 
 7 
 
 . 18 
 35-44 
 . 7 
 
 . 35 
 
 77-78 
 . 77 
 
 . 78 
 
 . 79 
 
 . 75 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 . 37 
 
 . 37 
 
 . 37 
 
 . 38 
 
 7 
 7 
 
 . 96 
 
 . 76 
 
 . 71 
 
 . 89 
 
 7 
 
76 
 
 & 
 
 Interments . 99 
 
 Jail, establishment of.7-75 
 
 * Levy, how laid . 50 
 
 Limitations of . 50-53 
 
 Libraries, city may establish . 76 
 
 Licenses, vehicles and dogs . 51 
 
 Lien for taxes, how enforced. 55 
 
 Manager, appointment of .... 35-36 
 
 Salary of ... 36 
 
 Employ assistants ... 35-36 
 
 duties of . 36-47-48 
 
 Report of . 87 
 
 Mayor, duties of . 15-30-35-97 
 
 Sign minutes . § . 28 
 
 To make appointments . 19 
 
 Vacancy in office . 31 
 
 Salary of . 35 
 
 Eligibility for re-election . 35 
 
 May vote, when . 15 
 
 Municipal authorities . 4-5 
 
 Municipal ownership . 7-59-75 
 
 Name of corporation . 1 
 
 Nomination of candidates . 10 
 
 Nuisances . ~ 47 
 
 Notices, how served. 64-81 
 
 Oaths of officers . 24 
 
 Officers, how appointed . 19 
 
 How removed. 19 
 
 Bonds of . 25 
 
 Not to be absent . 34 
 
 Qualifications of . 4 
 
 Conservator of peace. 33 
 
 Changes against . 80 
 
 Terms of. 35 
 
 Ordinances, council may pass. 17 
 
 Auditing . 19 
 
 Granting franchise.*. 37-38 
 
 Style of . 39 
 
 How passed . 41 
 
 On record. 42 
 
 Signed by mayor . 42 
 
77 
 
 Code of . 
 
 What in effect . 
 
 To take effect ....... 
 
 How construed. 
 
 Paving certificates. 
 
 Paving, how done. 
 
 Who pays for . 
 
 For intersections ... 
 
 Materials for . 
 
 Along public property 
 
 Police, chief of. 
 
 Report nuisances ... 
 
 How appointed . 
 
 How discharged .... 
 
 Duties of . 
 
 Humane officers. 
 
 Police judge . 
 
 Powers and duties ... 
 
 Police matron . 
 
 Precinct lines. 
 
 President pro-tem. 
 
 Prisoners on streets . 
 
 Process . 
 
 Property books. 
 
 Qualifications of voters . .. 
 
 Of officers . 
 
 Quorum . 
 
 Real estate . 
 
 Recall. 
 
 Record . 
 
 Referendum, on ordinances 
 
 On franchise . 
 
 Registration of voters . .. 
 
 Registrars . 
 
 Rules . 
 
 Re-paving . 
 
 Sewers, owners to connect 
 How provided for 
 
 Assessment for. 
 
 Resolution for . 
 
 Sidewalks . 
 
 « 
 
 . 42-98 
 
 . 84 
 
 . 95 
 
 . 73 
 
 . 88 
 
 . 60-61-63-88 
 
 . 60-63 
 
 . 61-65 
 
 . 67-68 
 
 . 70 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 47 
 
 . 35-85 
 
 . 85 
 
 . 85 
 
 . 85 
 
 . 35 
 
 . 35-44-45 
 
 . 97 
 
 . 3 
 
 . 15 
 
 . 44 
 
 . 95 
 
 .93-a 
 
 . 8 
 
 . 4 
 
 . 26 
 
 . 7-101 
 
 . 91-93 
 
 . 20 
 
 . 89-90 
 
 . 38 
 
 . 8-9-75 
 
 . 9 
 
 pages 2 & 3 and 20 
 
 .. 65 
 
 ... 62 
 
 . 62-69 
 
 . 62-63-64 
 
 . 63 
 
 . 49-93 
 
 
78 
 
 Taxes, assessment of . 67 
 
 Levy of . 50-51 
 
 Collection of. 52 
 
 Tickets, how divided. 52 
 
 In what paid. 52 
 
 Property liable for.... 54 
 
 Property exempt . 57 
 
 Treasurer, election of . 35 
 
 Bond of . 25 
 
 Duties of . 58 
 
 Vacancies, how filled . 31 
 
 Voters, qualifications of . 8 
 
 Vote, how taken. 27 
 
 Warrants, by whom issued. 44 
 
 Ward boundaries . 3 
 
 Witnesses .. 33