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Ideal for: Irish immigrants escaping the potato
famine
Job specifications: Years of experience ploughing Ireland’s rough terrain
are the perfect training for the task of building the thousands of miles of
railway track that will criss-cross Her Majesty’s land. What Her Majesty’s
architects did not tell you was that the project would involve long hours of
shovelling over 20 tonnes of stone and soil, then pushing them into over 200
wheelbarrow loads a day.
Drawbacks: You work like a slave, and eat like one too. Despite the
backbreaking labour, don’t expect to get paid more than a pittance, and the
so-called “free accommodations” are nothing but makeshift tents with no
heating and no bedding. While you’re lucky to have escaped the Potato
Famine, now you run the risk for cholera and typhus.
Perks: It’s a foot into the construction industry, and the way the
Industrial Revolution’s going, you’ll find plenty of other work once you’re
done. Unfortunately, conditions aren’t much better there then they are here,
and the backbreaking workload could cripple you for life.
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