1688                                          LAWS OF MARYLAND                        [Ch. 440

the 4th day of July, called "Independence Day"; the 12th
day of September, known as "Defenders' Day"; the second
Monday in October, known as "Columbus Day"; the fourth
Monday in October, known as "Veterans' Day"; the fourth
Thursday in November, known as "Thanksgiving Day"; the
25th day of December, called "Christmas Day"; and all
days of general and congressional elections throughout
the state and all special days that may be appointed or
recommended by the State and on all special days that may
be appointed or recommended by the Governor of this State
or the President of the United States, as days of
thanksgiving or fasting and prayer, or other religious
observance or for the general cessation of business,
shall be regarded as legal holidays, and shall be duly
observed as such, and shall for all purposes whatsoever
as regards the presenting for payment or acceptance and
of the protesting and giving notice of dishonor of bills
of exchange, bank checks, drafts and promissory notes, to
be treated and considered as the first day of the week,
commonly called Sunday, and all such bills, drafts,
checks, and notes presented for payment or acceptance on
these said days, shall be deemed to be presented for
acceptance or payment on the secular or business day next
succeeding such holiday. [The 15th day of January of
each and every year shall be proclaimed by the Governor
as "Martin Luther King Day" and shall be a day of prayer
in honor of Martin Luther King.] The 13th day of April
of each and every year shall be proclaimed by the
Governor as "John Hanson's Birthday" and be dedicated to
the memory of the statesman, John Hanson. The Governor
of this State shall have the power by proclamation to
appoint a day or days for the general cessation of
business in any one or more of the political subdivisions
of the State, in case of emergency from fire, flood or
otherwise, with the same legal consequences as
hereinabove provided. In case of emergency from fire,
flood, storm, snow, robbery, riot, or other cause of any
kind whatsoever in any part of the State, the Governor
shall have the further power by proclamation to appoint a
day or days during which banking institutions (as defined
in Article 11 of the Annotated Code of Maryland) within
the area or areas designated in the proclamation may
remain closed, in which case the appointed day or days
shall be treated and considered as the first day of the
week, commonly called Sunday, with the same legal
consequences as hereinabove provided. If the emergency
condition is confined to one or more particular banking
institutions or branch offices, the proclamation shall be
limited to the institutions or offices so designated. In
the event an emergency condition arises and it is not
practicable to obtain a proclamation prior to actual
closing, the institutions so affected may, by the action
of the chairman of the board of directors or the
president of the institution, effect a closing; and such