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R.D. 2 PA. 17582
'SUSQUEHANN... 1. MES
Susquehanna Times & The Mount Joy Bulletin
MARIETTA & MOUNT JOY, PA.
FIFTEEN CENTS
Vol. 79, No. 21, May 30, 1979
Jim Wert begins transcontinental anti nuclear power bike hike
i Bate 3
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Jim Wert with his new home—he’ll be sleeping in this tent for the next year or so.
The tent weighs only six pounds and folds into a bag the size of a shoebox.
This morning Jim Wert is
meeting Governor Thorn-
burgh. Jim bicycled into
Harrisburg from Mount Joy
last night to hand the
governor a foot-thick stack
of petitions—20,000 signi-
tures—and 150 letters ask-
ing that Three Mile Island
be shut down permanently.
Jim won’t be bicycling
back to Mount Joy, though,
for about a year and a half.
In the meantime he’s going
to every state in the Union to
meet their governors and
talk to them about nuclear
energy.
“I'm not sure yet if I'll
make it to Alaska,’’ Jim told
us. ‘Id have to bike 1442
miles over a dirt road to get
there. I'll concentrate on the
lower 48 first.”’
Jim has sold his car and
furniture and given away
everything else. The day
before he left, his apartment
at 203 E. Main Street
contained only a few boxes.
Jim’s new Gerry tent was
set up in the back yard. He
had tried it out the night
before and found it just fine,
which is good since it will
be his home for a long time.
He won't be staying in
hotels. Everything he will
need to live is going in his
saddlebags or pack.
Jim had occasionally day-
dreamed about taking off
they way he is doing now,
but it was only a dream until
the TMI incident turned him
around.
“I never thought about
nuclear energy befote,”’ he
says, ‘‘but since TMI I've
really learned about the
dangers, the Price-Ander-
son Act, the cracks in the
pipes, and everything. 1
guess I'm a radical or
activist or whatever you
want to call me.”’
Jim evacuated to Tenne-
see during TMI week, and
while down there decided he
would take the 15,000-mile
bike trip to protest nuclear
power.
Jim told us that most
of the people he knows in
Mount Joy are pro-nuke,
“until I tell them a few of
the facts.”’
You might be reading
about Jim in the papers for
the next year or so. He was
advised by the SVA (Sus-
quehanna Valley Alliance,
an anti-nuclear group whom
he is representing) to
contact the UPI and AP
reporters who are always on
duty at state capitals. With
any luck, he may even get a
right-up in National Geo-
graphic. Jim told us he
might send this paper some
letters to the editor detailing
his journey around the
country.
Jim is originally from the
Harrisburg area. He had
lived here about two years.
As we were winding up the
interview, we asked him if
there was anything else the
readers should be told.
“Tell them to write
letters,”” Jim replied, ‘‘to
Thornburgh, Walker, any-
body—and tell them how
you feel about nuclear
power.”
85 miles
per gallon!
Paul R. Gingrich of
Mount Joy has an auto that
gets 85 miles to the gallon.
It’s a King Midget, made
in the 50’s and 60’s by the
King Brothers of St. Louis,
MO. In 1968 it cost $102S in
kit form.
Mr. Gingrich’s King
Midget was out last
Saturday for the Memorial
Day Parade in Mount Joy, in
which his strange little
vehicle is a regular entry.
(Paul usually drives his 78
Futura, which only gets
about 22 mpg.) Gene
Bender rode” with Mr.
Gingrich in the parade.
The Midget is so light that
a man can pick the front end
off the ground, and a big
man can pick up the rear.
The engine is an 18-hp
Wisconsin heavy-duty in-
dustrial model, air-cooled.
Power is delivered to one
rear wheel through a rubber
belt transmission and final
chain drive and reduction
gear. The tires are 35.7
inches wide on 8 inch
diameter rims.
The Midget has a cruising
speed of 40 miles per hour.
Top speed on the level is S0.
Much of the bodywork is
made of light-weight and
rustproof sheet aluminum.
Mr. Gingrich also owns a
1958 model King Midget,
which he is keeping in case
he has to replace any hard-
to-find parts. Most of the
parts are easy to get,
though, he says.
According to rumor, the
King Midget may be
produced again in the near
future.
Members of the Air Force Drill Team hold Mr. Gingrich’s car. Gingrich stands behind it.