Page:Hockey, Canada's Royal Winter Game.djvu/13

 favorite sport, while hundreds and thousands, eager to enjoy the sight, will flock to the rinks and cheer their sides to victory.

2. In this part of the book it is but meet that attention should be drawn to the fact that our Governors-General, ever since the time that hockey obtained as a popular, scientific game have, in a most significant manner, auspiciously lent their names and aid in furthering the interests of this favorite sport.

The cup donated by the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Derby (Lord Stanley) has given birth to the keenest competition among our leading clubs, jealous of its possession. It has brought together teams that have travelled thousands of miles for the encounter, and has placed the game of hockey, through these important matches, more prominently before the public than anything that any other man has ever done for it.

Lord Stanley, now the Earl of Derby, took a great interest in hockey when he was Governor-General of Canada, and when about to leave for England, in 1893, he announced 19