The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton

The book is one of those quirky books that I pick up from time to time. Michael Crichton is one of those great thriller writers that I enjoy, the majority of the time he hits the spot with a good solid thriller. This is a good old fashioned bank job set in the Victorian age robbing the Crimean gold off the Dover steam train. (wikipedia factual record)

Michael Crichton writes a gripping story loosely based on the facts woven into a good solid page turner.

Victorian workplace rules.

As I was going through the book there were some interesting snippits that I thought would be worth clipping.

Rules for Office Staff (early 1854)

1. Godliness, cleanliness and punctuality are the necessities of a good business.
2. The firm has rreduced the working day to the hours from 8.30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
3. Daily prayers will be held each morning in the main office. The clerical staff will be present.
4. Clothing will be of a sober nature. The clerical staff will not disport themselves in raiment of bright color.
5. A stove is provided for the benefit of the clerical staff. It is recommended that each member of the clerical staff brings 4 lbs of coal each day during cold weather.
6. No member of the clerical staff may leave the room without permission from Mr Roberts. The calls of nature are permitted and clerical staff may use the garden beyond the second gate. This area must be kept clean and in good order.
7. No talking is allowed during business hours.
8. The cravings of tobacco, wines or spirits is a human weakness, and as such is forbidden to the clerical staff.
9. Members of the clerical staff will provide their own pens.
10. The managers of the firm will expect a great rise in the output of work to compensate for these near Utopian Conditions.

It should be noted that this quote is from a work of fiction, there is no record whether Michael Crichton copied an original sheet of rules from a Victorian workplace or created a new fictional rule book.

I wonder if the government has thought or reinstating these "near Utopian conditions" for the current crop of bankers. A hundred years later nearly all of those rules have long been swept away, although to be fair if you want good stationary at work you still have to buy your own.