ART. 23.] CORPORATIONS—RAILROAD. 347

amount of capital stock necessary to construct such road; such
certificate shall be acknowledged before a justice of the peace,
and certified by the clerk of the circuit court for any county
through which the road passes; and when said certificate is
executed, it shall be the duty of the persons executing the same
to submit it to one of the judges of the judicial circuit within
which the county where it was acknowledged may lie, or to one
of the judges of the supreme bench of Baltimore city, if acknowl-
edged in said city, in order that the said judge may determine,
whether said certificate is in conformity with the law; and if the
said judge shall so determine, he shall certify his said determin-
ation upon the said certificate, which shall be forwarded to the
secretary of State, who shall record and carefully preserve the
same in his office; and a copy thereof, duly certified by the
secretary of State, under the great seal of the State of Maryland,
shall be evidence of the existence of such company.

Penna. R. R. Co. v. Consolidation Coal Co., 55 Md. 160, 174. C. & P. R. R
Co. v. Penna. R. R Co . 57 Md. 280.

1876, ch. 242, sec. 4.

160. When the foregoing provisions have been complied with,
the persons named as corporators in said certificate are hereby
authorized to carry into effect the objects named in said certifi-
cate, in accordance with the provisions of this article; and they
and their associates, successors and assigns, by the name and
style provided in said certificate, shall thereafter be deemed a
body corporate, with succession, with power to sue and be sued,
plead and be impleaded, defend and be defended, contract and
be contracted with, acquire and convey at pleasure, all such real
and personal estate as may be necessary and convenient to carry
into effect the objects of the incorporation; to make and use a-
common seal, and the same to alter at pleasure, and do all need-
ful acts to carry into effect the objects for which it was created
and such company shall possess all the powers and be subject to
all the rules and restrictions provided by this article.

Ibid. sec. 5.

161. Said corporations shall be authorized to construct and
maintain a railroad with a single or double track, with such side-
tracks, turn-outs, offices and depots, as they may deem necessary,