The first function call exhibits incorrect syntax for the Contains() function and makes no sense. The Contains() function takes two arguments that represent a string, expression, matrix, list, or associative array and the second argument is the same type. The second function call uses correct syntax and will return the location of the first occurrence of the second argument (e.g., "HP") in the variable column, assuming it stores a character string, or 0 if it is not found.
Select Help > Scripting Index > Functions > Contains in JMP to see the syntax and explanation.
See the Help entry for this function here.