Ax, a long-handled implement for chopping wood. The axes of primitive man appear to have been chips of flint, sharpedged stones, and bones or clam shells tied to handles by thongs of rawhide. The islanders of the southern Pacific Ocean, it is said, still chop with stone axes. The next step in ax making was the casting of axes of bronze. As soon as the art of casting had been learned, it was easy to cast axes with a hole in the head for the insertion of the handle. The third step was the making of iron and steel axes. In colonial days axes were made by the village blacksmith. The factory-made ax is a recent development. The greatest ax factory in the world, the Collins, of Connecticut, turns out an average of 5,000 axes daily. To save frequent grinding lumbermen now prefer to use a double-bitted ax, having a straight handle. European wood-choppers prefer a wide-bladed ax, much like a broad-ax. They do not like the American ax. Gladstone was fond of chopping. An American friend sent him an American ax, but the statesman did not like to chop with it.