Page:EB1911 - Volume 13.djvu/130

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HAZARD—HAZEL
117

and rose in 1845 in rebellion. They stormed the Sikh forts, laid siege to Haripur, and drove the governor across the borders. After the first Sikh War it was proposed to transfer Hazara with Kashmir to Gulab Singh, but it remained under the Lahore government in charge of James Abbott, who pacified it in less than a year and held it single-handed throughout the troubles of the second Sikh War. It was also undisturbed during the Mutiny. The population in 1901 was 560,288, showing an increase of 8·52% in the decade. The headquarters are at Abbotabad; pop. (1901) 7764. Through the Kagan valley and over the Babusar pass at its head lies the most direct route from the Punjab to Chilas and Gilgit.


HAZARD (O. Fr. hazard, from Span. azar, unlucky throw at dice, misfortune, from Arab, al, and zar, dice), a game of dice (called Craps in America), once very popular in England and played for large stakes at the famous rooms of Crockford (St James’s Street, London) and Almack (Pall Mall, London). The player or “caster” calls a “main” (that is, any number from five to nine inclusive). He then throws with two dice. If he “throws in,” or “nicks,” he wins the sum played for from the banker or “setter.” Five is a nick to five, six and twelve are nicks to six, seven and eleven to seven, eight and twelve to eight and nine to nine. If the caster “throws out” by throwing aces, or deuce-ace (called crabs or craps), he loses. When the main is five or nine the caster throws out with 11 or 12; when the main is six or eight he throws out with 11; when the main is seven he throws out with 12. If the caster neither nicks nor throws out, the number thrown is his “chance,” and he keeps on throwing till either the chance comes up, when he wins, or till the main comes up, when he loses. When a chance is thrown the “odds” for or against the chance are laid by the setter to the amount of the original stake. Seven is the best main for the caster to call, as it can be thrown in six different ways out of the thirty-six casts which are possible with dice. Supposing seven to be the main; then the caster wins if he throws 7 or 11; he loses if he throws crabs or 12. If he throws any other number, 4 for example, that is his chance. The odds against him are two to one, as 7 can be thrown in six ways, but 4 only in three; hence six to three, or two to one, are the correct odds, and if the original stake was £1, the setter now lays £2 to £1 in addition. It is useful to remember that 2 and 12 can be thrown in one way; 3 and 11 in two ways; 4 and 10 in three ways; 5 and 9 in four ways; 6 and 8 in five ways. The odds against the caster are thus given by Hoyle: If 7 is the main and 4 the chance, two to one; 6 and 4, five to three; 5 and 4, four to three; 7 and 9, three to two; 7 and 6, six and five; 7 and 5, three to two; 6 and 5, five to four; 8 and 5, five to four, &c.


HAZARIBAGH, a town and district of British India, in the Chota Nagpur division of Bengal. The town is well situated at an elevation of 2000 ft. Pop. (1901) 15,799. Hazaribagh has ceased to be a military cantonment since the European penitentiary was abolished. There are a central jail and a reformatory school. The Dublin University Mission maintains a First Arts college.

The District comprises an area of 7021 sq. m. In 1901 the population was 1,177,961, showing an increase of 1% in the decade. The physical formation of Hazaribagh exhibits three distinct features: (1) a high central plateau occupying the western section, the surface of which is undulating and cultivated; (2) a lower and more extensive plateau stretching along the north and eastern portions; to the north, the land is well cultivated, while to the east the country is of a more varied character, the elevation is lower, and the character of a plateau is gradually lost; (3) the central valley of the Damodar river occupying the entire southern section. Indeed, although the characteristics of the district are rock, hill and wide-spreading jungle, fine patches of cultivation are met with in all parts, and the scenery is generally pleasing and often striking. The district forms a part of the chain of high land which extends across the continent of India, south of the Nerbudda on the west, and south of the Sone river on the east. The most important river is the Damodar, with its many tributaries, which drains an area of 2480 sq. m.

The history of the district is involved in obscurity until 1755, about which time a certain Mukund Singh was chief of the country. In a few years he was superseded by Tej Singh, who had gained the assistance of the British. In 1780 Hazaribagh, along with the surrounding territory, passed under direct British rule.

The district contains an important coal-field at Giridih which supplies the East Indian railway. There are altogether six mines. There are also mica mines which are gaining in importance. Rice and oilseeds are the principal crops. Tea cultivation has been tried but does not flourish, and is almost extinct. The only railways are the branch of the East Indian to the coal-field at Giridih, where there is a technical school maintained by the railway company, and the newly-opened Gaya-Katrasgarh chord line; but the district is traversed by the Grand Trunk road. Parasnath hill is annually visited by large numbers of Jain worshippers.


HAZEBROUCK, a town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Nord, on the canalized Bourre, 29 m. W.N.W. of Lille, on the Northern railway, between that town and St Omer. Pop. (1906), town, 8798; commune, 12,819. With the exception of the church of St Eloi, a building of the 16th century with a spire of fine open work 260 ft. high, and the hospice, occupying a convent built in the 16th and 17th centuries, there is little of architectural interest in the town. Hazebrouck is the seat of a sub prefect, and has a tribunal of first instance and a board of trade arbitration. It is the market for a fertile agricultural district, and has trade in live-stock, grain and hops. Cloth-weaving is the chief industry. Hazebrouck is an important junction, and railway employés form a large part of its population.


Fig. 1.—Hazel (Corylus Avellana).—1, Female catkin (enlarged); 2, Pair of fruits (nuts) each enclosed in its involucre (reduced).

HAZEL (O. Eng. hæsel[1]; cf. Ger. Hasel, Swed. and Dan. hassel, &c.,; Fr. noisetier, coudrier), botanically corylus, a genus of shrubs or low trees of the natural order Corylaceae. The common hazel, Corylus Avellana (fig. 1), occurs throughout Europe, in North Africa and in central and Russian Asia, except the northernmost parts. It is commonly found in hedges and coppices, and as an undergrowth in woods, and reaches a height of some 12 ft.; occasionally, as at Eastwell Park, Kent, it may attain to 30 ft. According to Evelyn (Sylva, p. 35, 1664), hazels “above all affect cold, barren, dry, and sandy soils; also mountains, and even rockie ground produce them; but more plentifully if somewhat moist, dankish, and mossie.” In Kent they flourish best in a calcareous soil. The bark of the older stems is of a bright brown, mottled with grey, that of the young twigs is ash-coloured, and glandular and hairy. The leaves are alternate, from 2 to 4 in. in length, downy below, roundish heart-shaped, pointed and shortly stalked. In the variety C. purpurea, the leaves, as also the pellicle of the kernel and the husk of the nut, are purple, and in C. heterophylla they are thickly clothed with hairs. In autumn the rich yellow tint acquired by the leaves of the hazel adds greatly to the beauty of landscapes. The flowers are monoecious, and appear in Great Britain in February and March, before the leaves. The cylindrical drooping yellow male catkins (fig. 2) are 1 to 21/2 in. long, and occur 2 to 4 in a raceme; when in unusual numbers they may be terminal in position. The female flowers are small, sub-globose and sessile,


  1. It has been supposed that the origin is to be found in O. Eng. hæs, a behest, connected with hatan = Ger. heissen, to give orders: the hazel-wand was the sceptre of authority of the shepherd chieftain (ποιμὴν λαῶν) of olden times, see Grimm, Gesch. d. deutsch. Sprache, p. 1016, 1848. The root is kas-, cf. Lat. corulas, corylus; and the original meaning is unknown.