Evening star., 1949-07-02
Advance Information
On Witnesses Barred
By Hiss Trial Judge
By kewboId koyes, JL
Star StaH Ca1respondent

Alger Hiss perjury trial was in
recess today for the long holiday
week end. with attorneys for both
sides under instruction by Fed
eral Judge Samuel H. Kaufman
to give no more advance informa-
ton about witnesses they expect
to call.
Judge Kaufman cracked down
yesterday on the time-honored
custom of dispensing advance
tips on witnesses, after he ruled
that Mrs. Hede Massing. former
wife of Gerhard Eisler, could not
appear for the Government as a
rebuttal witness against Mr.. Hiss.
The former State Department
official, charged with falsely deny
ing that he slipped secret State
Department papers to Communist
agent Whitaker Chambers in the
1930s, testified last week that he
never knew Mrs. Massing, who
also is variously known as Mrs.
Hedvig Gumpertz and Mrs. Hedda
Gompers.
Paper Gave Details.
Even as Judge Kaufman ruled
that Mrs. Massing's testimony
bore only on a collateral" issue
Of the case and therefore was not
admissible, one New York news
paper was on the street with a
story purporting to relate In ad-
vance and in detail. the story Mrs.
Massing would tell in refuting the
defendants statement.
A tall, middle-aged woman in q
white hat and dark blue dress,
Mrs. Massing was present in the
witness room yesterday. but was
not called to the stand. Judge
Kaufman, who has warned against
the evils of trial-by-publicity.
made a similar ruling Wednesday
in disallowing the testimony Of a
proposed defense witness, DR.. Carl
Binger, a New York psychiatrist
who spent the first week Of the
trial watching Mr.. Chambers tes-
tify for the Government.
In DR.. Binger's case. however,
Defense Attorney Lloyd Paul
Stryker was permitted, over stren-
uous Government objections. to
address to the witness a detailed
40-minute "hypothetical' question
an uncomplimentary recital, In
effect, Of Mr.. Chambers checkered
career.
Sociology Professors Wife.
Mrs. Massing now Is the wife OF
DR.. Paul Massing. sociology pro-
fessor at Rutgers University. She
is a native Of Vienna, and has
been named by Mr.. Chambers and
others as q former Communist
agent.
Her former husband. Eisler. long
the Kremlin's reputed No. rep
resentative in the United States.
Jumped $23, 900 bail last May when
he slowed away on the Polish
liner Batory and made his way,
via England, to his native Ger
many.
In yesterdays abbreviated ses-
sion, most of which was taken up
with argument in the judges
chambers over the admissibility
of Mrs. Massing's testimony, the
Government also tried unsuccess-
fully to call an unidentified official
Of the Cherner Motor Co. in Wash
ington.
Assistant United States Attor-
ney Thomas r. Murphy said he
proposed. through this witness. to
prove certain facts about the pur-
chase and sale Of the 1929 Ford
which. Mr.. Hiss says he gave to
Mr.. Chambers in 1896. But Judge
Kaufman ruled this was not prop
er rebuttal testimony.
Three Witnesses Testify.
Three witnesses who did appear
for the prosecution yesterday
we're:
l. Paul A. Solandt, Washington,
an employe of the Library Of Con-
gress. He said he spent the sum-
mer of 1887 at the Chestertown
(MdJ boarding house of Mrs.
Levin w. Wickes. and that he
never saw the Kisses there or
heard their names mentioned.
Mr.. Hiss says he and his wife
were at the Wickes establishment
in August, 1887, when Mr.. Cham
bers claims they made a motor
trip with him to Peterborough,
N. H.
2. Lish Whitson, FBI agent. Of
Washington. He told Of an inter-
view with Mr.. Hiss in March,
1946. He said Mr.. Hiss, who him.
self sought the interview, was
asked. particularly about his as.o-
citation with Lee Pressman, for
mer general counsel Of the CIO.
now an official of Henry Wallace's
Progressive Party. Mr.. Hiss said,
according to Mr.. Whitson, that he
had seen very little" of MIR
Pressman since they were together
in the Agricultural Adjustment
Administration In 1884.
8. Stanley Russell, representa-
tive of q typewriter concern, who
told Of renting a Woodstock type
writer, 1929 model. to Mr.. Hiss
attorneys last February, while
they were searching for the Wood
stock machine on which, the Gov
ernment contends. Mr.. or Mrs.
Hiss copied secret State Depart
ment material for Mr.. Champers.
The case, which opened May 81,
is expected to go to the jury next