Evening star., 1955-02-20
Hearing Noisy-But Shorfmon Is Calm
BY Mary Me6rory

Lamb hearings Is contained In
a little room presided over by
an equable part-time poet who
may have heard more poetry
than truth during 40 days Of
turmoil and shouting.
Herbert Sharfman, examiner
for the Federal Communications
Commission, must not only quell
what he calls "the unseemly OUT
bursts" that so often rock FEC
Hearing Room No. 8 in the Post
Office Building, eventually he
must also comb out the tangle
Of admitted lies, new allegations
and reersals that have attended
Edward Lambs application to
renew his radio-TV license.
OF the 10 witnesses called by
FEC lawyers to prove alleged
Communist associations on the
part Of Publisher Broadcaster
Lamb, two have been recalled to
the stand by Mr.. Lambs law
yers. The pair, Mrs. Marie
Natvig. a 51-year-old Florida
divorcee. and Lowell Watson,
a 6-foot-6 ex-Communist dairy
farmer, have both said that
coached" by FEC lawyers. they
lied in denouncing Mr.. Lamb.
Witnessed Threats.
In addition, Mr.. Sharfman has
seen a witness threaten to kill
a lawyer with a water pitcher
and heard himself identified by
Mrs. Natvig as "the weak sister"
of FEC examiners. Mrs Natvig,
who. has been exiled by Mr..
Sharfman from the hearings II
not banished from the record,
told Mr.. Sharfman that the term
came from FEC lawyers.
Mr.. Sharfman, who must cope
with clashing personalities and
explosive revelations without
benefit Of gavel, has borne all
in good part.
He sits at a desk mounted on
a platform in the cramped hear
ing room. At his left is a device
on wheels that looks like an
open-ended playpen. 1t purports
to be witnesS-box, but Lamb
witnesses ignore this convenience
and tell their stories at little
table adjoining Mr.. Sharfman's
desk.
Tall and Tweedy.
A tall, tweedy lawyer with
thinning gray hair. Mr.. Sharf-
man has a long face that some-
what suggests a benign and
highly intelligent sheep. At
times, when he leans back in his
chair with an expression of un-
quenchable good will. he looks
like a professor guiding a slightly
moonstruck seminar. At other
times he leans forward. chin
propped up on both hands. sug-
gesting a child listening to a
bedtime story of tested interest.
Occasionally when the routine
shouting matches between Mr..
Lambs lawyer. Russell Morton
Brown. and one of the Govern
ment lawyers reach ear-shatter-
ing pitch. Mr.. Sharfman bangs
his open palm down on the desk
and injects an obbligato of Nov.
Mr.. Brown" This could appeal
to both sides, as one Of the Gov
ernment lawyers is also named
Brown (Edward), although Rus
SELL Morton has the greater
volume and therefore is more
likely to be the offender.
These shouting matches have
caused the removal Of the Lamb
hearings from a commodious In
ternational Com m u n cations
Commission hearing room. where
they started. Neighboring ex-
aminers complained about the
racket. Mr.. Sharfman, a book
ish man who is generally discov-
cred doing crossword puzzles
before the meetings come to
their habitual disorder, mildly
complains: "These things should
be above levity and below farce"
Millions of Words.
The million words of testimony
that have aSsailcd Mr.. Sharfman
on the Lamb question have not
dimmed his interest in seman-
tics. An honor graduate in Eng
lish from the University of
Pennsylvania, he is, he told the
hearing room IN an aside the
other day. devoted to "Fowler's
Modern English Usage" a noted
volume on correct speech and
writing.
He is always defining terms.
When Mr.. Watson finished his
tale of coached testimony on
Friday, Mr.. Sharfman engaged