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About Hashing
The HASH HOUSE HARRIERS is a social club of runners that have been  described as "a drinking club with a running problem."  Ex-pat British  businessmen, accountants, lawyers, civil servants, etc., started the  HASH in 1938 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  It is a club based on the old  English game of hares and hounds where one or two members would be given  several minutes head start and would drop shredded paper as the  "scent".  The hounds would then follow, after the prescribed time, and  attempt to catch the hares.  The hares would lay the trail in a straight  or obvious line, but then would stop laying trail and run off in  another direction and begin laying the trail after 100 meters or so.   When the hounds discovered that they were no longer on trail, they would  fan out in all directions in search of the "scent" and would call to  the others when the trail was once again discovered.  The founder of the  HASH, A. S. "G" Gispert, in 1937 discovered the Springgit Harriers, one  of the paper chase clubs, in Malacca.  He introduced Ronald "Torch"  Bennett to the concept and the stage was set.  When "G" returned to  Kuala Lumpur in 1938, he became a member of the Federated Malay States  Volunteer Reserves, which trained on Mondays.  "G" and many of the other  ex-pat Brits were housed in barracks in the Royal Selangor Club where  he and "Torch" would often discuss starting a harrier club in KL (Kuala  Lumpur).  Finally in about December of 1938, "G" convinced about a dozen  others to follow his inaugural paper trail.  Gispert then suggested the  name of HASH HOUSE HARRIERS in mock allusion to the mess at the  Selangor Club, where many of them dined.  The runs were held Monday  evenings after reserve training and were followed by refreshment of  Tiger beer.  A. S. "G" Gispert was killed in battle defending Singapore  from the Japanese at 0400 hours 11 February 1942.  The HASH has grown  from those humble beginnings to include thousands of chapters and tens  of thousands of hashers worldwide.