Evening star., 1948-12-10
Latest Suspect
Is Ex-EmpIoye Of
Standards Bureau
(Tert of Campbell and Mundt
Letters on Page AS.

Nathan L. Levine, New York
attorney, today described to the
House Committee on Un-Amer-
lean Activities how he hid a
bulky envelope for ex-Commu-
mist Whitaker Chambers a de-
cade ago because Mr.. Chambers
was "in morbid fear of being
liquidated by the Communists" "
The 37-year-old lawyer, who is
o nephew of Mr. Chambers, was
called to an open hearing shortly
after noon to establish for the COM
mittee that copies of the documents
which Mr.. Chambers says were
stolen from Government files actual
ly were taken in 1887 and 1888.
Shortly before the public hearing
began, the committee announced 1t
had located in Appleton, Wis,
man described by members as "a
new suspect" accused of giving
secret Government information to
Mr.. Chambers. The man was des-
cribed as a former employe OF the
Bureau of Standards.
Chemist Invited to Testify.
While the committee did not re-
veal his name, it did announce that
1t had sent a telegram to William
Ward Pigman at Appleton, Wis,
38-year-old chemist, inviting him to
testify. Mr.. Pigman once worked
for the Bureau of Standards.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press
reported from Appleton that Mr..
Pigman had left to appear before
the special Federal grand jury in
New York which Is investigating
espionage.
The House committee, continuing
protest of the Justice Department,
had no immediate comment on a
report from New York that Alger
Hiss has been subpoenaed to testify
before the committee tomorrow
morning.
Mr.. Hiss, a former State Depart
ment official. has been accused by
Mr.. Chambers of slipping docu-
ments out of the State Department
for relay to Russia.
Mr.. Levine told the committee he
did not know the contents Of the
sealed envelope Mr. Chambers gave
him 10 years ago, but indicated to |
him that if he ever opened 1t he
would know what to do about 1t.
Retrieved Three Weeks Ago.
The witness said Mr.. Chambers
retrieved the envelope three weeks
ago this past Sunday at my home
The first of the documents showed
up at a pretrial deposition over two
weeks ago in Baltimore when Mr..
Chambers was giving testimony in
connection with a $4,000 slander
suit brought against him by Mr.
Hiss. The other documents, in the
form of microfllm, turned up in
pumpkin patch on Mr.. Chambers
Westminster, Md, farm last week.
Mr.. Levine unfolded this story OF
what he said happened 10 years ago:
"At that time, he (Mr. Chambers)
had been in morbid fear OF being
liouidated by the Communists He
had indicated to me that they were
going to assassinate him or hurt
him or members of his family"
He said that on one or two oc-
casions he accompanied Mr.. Chain
bers to appointments when he was
afraid the appointment was Com
munist plant"
Tells of Instructions.
Speaking of the envelope, Mr.. Le-
vine said. "He asked me to put 1t
away for him and if anything hap
pened to him I was to give 1t to
Esther, his wife" Mr.. Levine said
he asked Mr.. Chambers what he
was to do with the package if some
thing happened to Mrs. Chambers
as well as her husband. He said
Mr.. Chambers told him:
well. you would know what to
do with it. You're an attorney"
Chief Committee Investigator
Robert z. STRIPPING then asked Mr..
Levine what he had done with the
package. But before the witness
could answer, Mr.. Stripping sug-I
sested that the exact address where
the package was concealed might
be kept out of the record because
"the persons who reside at this ad-
dress are not involved or implicated
In any way"
Mr.. Levine said he was willing to
(See spy INQUIRY, Page A-6D