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4
Winter
2013
Reverend Alexander MacLachlan, had a new
dilemma: The poor gas lighting at the school
was decidedly beginning to irritate him. Some
rooms didn’t even have any lighting at all.
Students had to study by candlelight causing
him to keep a continuously wary eye for fires.
“He thought it was dangerous for his boys,”
recalled Howard Reed, MacLachlan’s last
surviving grandson who lives in the US. “He
wanted to power the buildings.”
But anyone who knew the minister knew
quite well that MacLachlan would go to
extremes to make sure that his precious Inter-
national College would have the best.
And thus his dilemma: Turkish authorities
strictly forbade the use of all electric equip-
ment – except for door bells. In fact, there
wasn’t a single electric lighting plant, private
or public, in the entire Turkish Empire. So
how would he, a simple Protestant minister
from Canada, ever be able to convince the
authorities otherwise?
Very wisely, he knew that he couldn’t. By
now, MacLachlan had learned there were
ways to get around Turkish authorities and
he waited for an opportunity. It came soon
enough under the guise of a young Greek
electric engineer who had heard of MacLach-
lan’s quest. The engineer was eager to make
a name for himself in Smyrna as an expert
in this new world of electricity. MacLachlan
was only too glad to oblige. After several
meetings, the two came up with an agree-
ment: the engineer would bring in and install
a complete modern electric lighting system,
including storage batteries, while the school
assumed all responsibility in dealing with
Turkish authorities.
Once again, MacLachlan had taken a risk.
If Turkish authorities got wind of the agree-
ment, he and IC could easily find themselves
thrown out of the country.
Still, the minister was not one to scare eas-
ily. The agreement went into effect immedi-
ately. The engineer would be paid once the
electricity plant was built.
Of course there remained a hitch in the
concocted plan: how could they build this
electric plant if Turkish customs officials pro-
hibited any electric equipment from entering
the country?
With the bold audacity of youth, the engi-
neer had his own plans. And so it was that for
a while, customs officials found themselves
inspecting strange things in big boxes: large
glass jars for the storage batteries - listed as
jars for preserving fruit. Boxes filled up with
wires – essential in manufacturing the latest
fashions of broad-brimmed hats for European
ladies living in Smyrna. After all, these hats
were the latest in Paris. The Turks wouldn’t
want Smyrna lagging in fashion would they?
And as everyone knows, fire insurance
companies have stringent demands so light-
When it came to his precious
school and students,
Protestant minister Reverend
Alexander MacLachlan would
leave no stone unturned. He
did whatever it took to raise
funds, even making his way
to Skibo castle in Scotland
and meeting with Andrew
Carnegie for donations –
only to be refused. Back in
Smyrna, he continuously
searched for ways to make
life better for his students …
The Adventures of
Alexander MacLachlan:
Finally, electric lights everywhere.