in Montreal and Quebec, but the only rule that was well defined was the one which demanded that every man should "shinny on his own side." Do what you might, play on what you liked or with what you liked—and as long as you shinnied on your own side, you were within the law.
All kinds of sticks were used, long knotted roots, broom handles, clubs, and all kinds of skates were employed, from long, dangerous reachers to short wooden rockers. On each particular occasion the captains agreed, before the game, upon the rules that they would abide by or disregard, so that, the rules that governed one match, might be null and void for another. The puck was a square block of wood, about two cubic inches in size, on which a later improvement was the bung of a barrel, tightly tied round with cord. Body checking was prohibited, so was lifting the puck; if the puck went behind the goal line it had to be faced; the referee kept time and decided the games; the goal posts, placed, at times, like ours, facing one another, were also fastened in the ice in a row, facing the sides, so that a game might be scored from either road, the forward shooting in the direction of the side of the rink, instead of towards the end, as we do.
As soon as the Montreal Victorias were organized, the secretary of that club wrote to
