ART. 13] NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS ACT. 271

notice of the dishonor of bills of exchange, bank checks, drafts and
promissory notes be also treated and considered as is the first day of
the week, commonly called Sunday.
See sections 18 and 104.

1904, art. 13, sec. 11. 1888, art. 13, sec. 11. 1876, ch. 345.

11. No party, otherwise entitled to sue and recover in any suit at
law upon or under any promissory note, bill of exchange, bill of lading,
warehouse or storage receipt, or other negotiable instrument, shall be
precluded from so recovering by reason of his inability, from any cause,
to produce such instrument in evidence at the trial, or surrender the
same to the defendant; provided always, that the absence of such instru-
ment shall be sufficiently accounted for, under the ordinary rules of evi-
dence, to allow the introduction of secondary proof of the contents
thereof at the trial; and that no judgment thereupon shall be entered
for the plaintiff in such suit, until a good and sufficient bond shall have
been first filed therein by the plaintiff, or on his behalf, in such penalty
and with such surety or sureties as the court shall approve, conditioned
to hold and keep the defendant harmless, upon satisfaction of the judg-
ment by him, to the same effect and intent as if said missing instrument
were then and there produced and surrendered to him; and the costs
in all such cases shall be adjudged by the court, in its discretion, as
may be equitable.

The bond need not be given before verdict, but before judgment entered.

prayers. Councilman v. Towson Bank, 103 Md. 478. See also, Ecker v.

First Nat'1 Bank, 59 Md. 305.

Quaere, whether this section embraces coupon bonds. C. & O. Canal Co

v. Blair, 45 Md. 112.

As to bills of lading, see art. 14, sec. 17. As to warehouse receipts, see

art. 14 A. sec. 14.

This section is identical with art. 75, sec. 14—see notes thereto.

Ibid. sec. 12. 1888, art. 13, sec. 12. 1888, ch. 484. 1896, ch. 106.

12. On all notes, drafts, checks, acceptances, bills of exchange,
bonds, or other evidences of indebtedness, made, drawn or accepted by
any person or corporation after the 27th day of March, 1896, and in
which there is no expresed stipulation to the contrary, no grace accord-
ing to the custom of merchants shall be allowed, but the same shall be
due and payable, as therein expressed, without grace.

NEGOTIABLE INSTRUMENTS ACT.

CHAPTER I—General Provisions.

Ibid. sec. 13. 1898. ch. 119.*

13. This act, consisting of sections 13 to 208, both inclusive, of
this article, shall be known as the negotiable instruments law.

*The act of 1898. ch. 119. held to have no application to a note made and
discounted in 1890. Keyaer v. Warfield, 103 Md. 166.

For a discussion of the purpose of the negotiable instruments act. see Vander-
ford v. Farmers' Bank, 105 Md. 168.