ACTION THIS DAY

125 YEARS AGO SUMMER 1896 • AGE 21 “THE TEDIOUS LAND OF INDIA”

Winston Churchill believed that he had found in Cuba the formula to propel him into public life. His 1895 newspaper reporting on the Cuban rebellion was the prototype that he followed tirelessly over the next four years until his election to Parliament in the fall of 1900. In the summer of 1896, he attempted on three occasions, unsuccessfully, to duplicate what he had done in Cuba the year before. It would not be until the latter part of 1897, however, that Churchill finally found another conflict to cover as a soldier-correspondent.

First, Churchill tried to persuade London’s to engage him as their Special Correspondent to cover a conflict in Crete. His offer was turned down. Instead, the Chronicle offered to pay him £10 a letter, twice the