By LORI WINCE
Times Recorder

ZANESVILLE—Rudy Stolfer wants to end all war and he's walked a long, way to spread that message; from one end of the country to the other.

Stolfer, a 49-year-old former railroad worker, began his walk in Washington, D.C., around Thanksgiving 1996. He started with four friends but lost them along the way to weather and other temptations. "There were a couple of us that didn't have anything else to do," Stolfer joked.

Though he has had some help from friends in a van and a school bus following along at different times, Stolfer's closest companion on the trip has been a cardboard coffin resting on a cart. He pulls the contraption behind him and it only hurts when he is in a place like Zanesville where there are hills. The cart weighs between 250 and 300 pounds. "If world peace is not a doable thing maybe an exercise video?" he asked. Kidding aside, Stolfer is sincere in his cause. The coffin carries slogans which are meaningful to him, including "One God, one people, one planet, one chance. Wage peace."

As long as the military' is running the world, Stolfer said, everyone is a potential victim. That is what the coffin represents.

Besides the horrors of war, Stolfer also talks about other problems in the world, many of which can he, traced back to a lack of faith. "You can't take God out of society and not expect trouble," he warned. As an example, he said there were no massacres in schools before prayer was taken out of the buildings. "We don't have that focus of a higher power," he said.

Stolfer's faith has carried him this far with the help of some kind people. He has some food with him and a tent, but he has been taken to pastors' homes to sleep in real beds and been fed by many people along the way. Some even contribute dollars to the cause. In Columbus this week, a police officer gave Stolfer some money.

He spent Thursday in Zanesville before continuing his journey. Stolfer hopes to carry his message back to Washington, D C., by Labor Day and he is asking people to join him there for the weekend to protest war. "We should have kids coming out of high school that can read and write instead of making smart bombs," he said.