454 THE WEIGHT OF AN AXE. [April 



THE WEIGHT OF AN AXE. 



I "WELL remember my first axe, and my early exjierience with it. 

 It weighed 4;^ lbs., being the heaviest one I could find at the 

 time. I was fresh from school — fresh from a class in natural 

 philosophy, one of my favourite studies. 



I knew all about inertia, and had learned something of the 

 force of gravity and the laws of falling bodies ; had rightly guessed 

 that chopping wood might be hard work, and determined that my 

 knowledge of physics should help me out. 



I would have a lieavy axe, a long handle — would move slowly, 

 and take strokes that would count when they fell, lly axe-handle 

 was 34 inches in length, the longest one in the store. I had hired 

 a tough little French Canadian, weighing about 120 lbs., to help 

 me at this work. When he came, he brought an axe — a mere toy, 

 I called it. I think it weiglied 2^^ lbs., with a handle only 26 

 inches long. I told him I had a fair-sized job for him, and thought 

 it would pay him to buy a full-grown axe. He smiled and said he 

 guessed his would do. I tried to explain to him the beauties of 

 a heavy axe, and the wonderful advantage of a long handle. But 

 it was all in vain ; I Avas only wasting time ; he could not under- 

 stand it. 



" Poor fellow," I thought, " he knows nothing of the beautiful 

 science of physics. It is too bad that he should thus waste liis 

 strength through ignorance, and be unwilling to listen to the voice 

 of wisdom." 



We went to the wood-lot, and began work. I had decided that 

 we w^ould work sejiiarately during the first da^- or t\vo, in order that 

 I might show him what I could do. 



As I began to swing my axe, I felt proud of its ponderous 

 blows that rang through the woods, and rather pitied the poor 

 fellow who was drumming away with his little axe, taking about 

 two blows to my one. 



Presently I had to stop to rest, and then again, and still again. 

 But Joe, my man, kept pecking away quietly, steadily, and easily. 



Every few minutes I would stop to take breath ; but Joe seemed 

 perfectly able to do all necessary breathing without stopping his 

 work for the purpose. 



When night came, we piled up our wood and measured it. Joe's 

 pile measured 1-1- cords ; mine, only f of a cord. 



Diu'ing the early part of the day I had planned giving Joe 

 another lesson in the eveninc;, to see if I could not make him 



