Jesuit Scientists in Manila.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 36, 4 September 1902, Page 4

Jesuit Scientists in Manila.

It would be very hard to properly define a Jesuit acoording to the popular non-Catholio conception. According to many the object of his existence is to make mankind subservient to him, not as we always find him rendering immense services to humanity in the mission field, in the domain of literature, and in the scientific world The Order has been established for many years in the Philippines, where apparently it had, under Spanish rule, a wide field for putting into practice those attributes with which it ia credited by its maligners. Yet in that out-of-the-way part of the world it has been engaged in the cultivation of science — especially astronomy and meteorology — and conducting one of the finest observatories in the world. A writer in the San Francisco Monitor paid a visit recently to the Manila Observatory, of which he gives the following account : — On entering the gateway a black-robed priest greets you pleasantly, ushers you to an upper office and iatroduces you to a genial smiling man, also wearing the robe of his Order. This is the famous Father Algue, one of the most noted astronomers and meteorologists in the world, admired by scientists of every government. So far is his word taken as law, that during the late war, when Dewey cut the cable, the Chinese and Japanese ship owners would not allow their vessels to put to Bea until communication in regard to the existence of typhoons could be had from him. Ascending to the roof of the meteorological building, you Btand amid a cluster of wind vanes that, connected with instruments in a room below, register the time, direction, and velocity of the slightest zephyr ; another machine causes the sun to register his passage by burning his course on a paper beneath, and, should a cloud intervene, an unmolested gap conneots the charred track of the periods of sunshine, marking the time to a second ; yawning hoppers catch the rain and register the fall in time and inches ; delicate bulbs register the amount of evaporation that has transpired ; and numerous other instruments advise on all the traits of the elements. Paramount to all, however, is the complicated Byßtem connected with the delicate mechanism of The Noted Universal Meteorgraph, invented by Father Secoi, one of this famous Jesuib fraternity. This is a marvellous instrument, and one of the wonders of the scientific world. It registers, every half minute for a week, the movement of the wind in regard to direction and velociy, the deviation and fall of the rain, the state of the barometer and thermometer, and the amount of moisture < arriei in the air. There are a number of instruments in the bureau for the same separate purposes and requiring hourly attention, but this wonderful piece of mechanism, by day an 1 night, in sunshine aud rain, calm or storm, keeps up its clockwork movement and its slender wire fingers trace ind9;ibly on duplicate of cardboard all the variations of the element*, with no need of attention save the wt.oK.ly wiading and change of cards. The huge time ball is another centre of attraction. Tts method of operation is f-ystematised to a nicety. Five minutes before noon three of the assistants station themselves in the observer's room at the mechanism connected with the ball on the tower above. The ball itself is about four feet in diameter and is dropped from the top of a pole about 40 feet in height by means of a lever operated by one of the assistants who, with eyes on ths chronometer, awaits the exact moment. Another stands ready to proas the electric button that fires a gun at Fort Santiago, near the mouth of the Pa»ig, two miles away. The third stands at the window, erlass in hand, and watches f <r the flash of t'u gun, to report any failure in the discharge. But it is in regard to The Dread Typhoon that the word of Father Algue is most rt-spected, and miny a Rhip and steamer that now plies the sea o*<s th • continuance of its vocation to the priests in the obs-ervatory. Scattered along the coast of the islands, from furthest north to the extieine south, are system* of sub-sta'Jona connected with th« observatory. A typhoon forms in the Carjline Islands, hundreds of mil s to the feouth, and swings its rtl ntlenS course towards the Philippines. The alert southern observer signals the approach and all other stations take up the won!. Nearer and nearer comes the dread s> ourge of the sea^, but still hundreds of miles tro.i) Man.l.i. On the observatory roof htmd Father Aljjue and his brother priests figuring from the reports the couri-e of thu destroyer. They decide that it will pa*s ncre <-r Manilt. The wires hum the int Ili^ence and on hundred* oi" i-hips alt i-> ro.-itu-'ion. Sream ih in. sed, ba-iis are mr, t:\o small craft m i up the P i^u- tor «h< ker, mul ottio- rs and crew-< utaml waiting further mteil gt net , Stili there i^. not a ripple on Manila 15 ty ; no cloud m irs the peic ftil blue oi the .sky ; and ncithing disturbs the lazy tri pioal oay. The Jesuits {jroup in i loser conference and ug kin the word is fUshed, thin time that Manila will he in ihe vuttti ot the siorin. Instantly the sails a well out on tue ships ; tue water i^ churned by the propellers of the steatne-is ; and the bay id di.tted with a liantio fleet scurrying for ba.'e anchorage at Oavite, Finally all i-i again calm. The fl set ridea peacefully in its new position, aad naught re uains of the cjnfu^ioii of an hour b. fore. Tue sun still beats releatJe^l} on a sea of tfia^. Suddenly, out of a clear sky, bursts the awful fury of the yphoon. Tug heaven j are darkened aad th^ pe.iot.ful bay trembles

with the fury of the waves ; the wind howls along the shore, uprooting tren after tree in its terrible course ; and the thunder and lightning lend awful accompaniment to the shriek of tha storm. The wrath of the elements is wasted. Thankß to the timely warning of the priests, the shipping rides easily at safe anchorage. The system of Recording Earthquakes 'm another marvel of science. A huge granite shaft extends from deep down in the volcanic rock to the top of the building, yet entirely free from any contact with the floors. Affixed to its sides are delicate instruments that record the slightest tremor of the earth. One of these dainty mechanisms, on the approach of an earthquake, rings a warning bell in the observer's room and indicates the direotion from which the shock is to be expected. This instrument it the invention of Father Sanderta. So familiar are the priests with the volcanic centres of the islands that they can tell exactly the spot from which the tremor starts, and by listening through a receiver let down into the earth, re-enforced by a sound magnifier, the rumblings of volcanic disturbances can be detected and notice given of the approach of an earthquake. Another of these wonderful instruments is*bo delicately set that it records the tremor of the earth caused by the beating of storm waves on Norther Luzon, 300 miles distant. Crossing from the meteorological building, the observatory proper furnishes food for wonderment. Here are manufactured the famous typhoon barometers, the invention of Father Algue. Busy natives print and lithograph the maps of the bureau bnlletina in % room equipped for that purpose ; assistant observers take observations on solar machines of all descriptions ; and high in the dome Bwings the huge twenty-inch telescope, obedient to the slightest touch. This instrument weighs three tons and the dome through which it peers, about 20 tons, yet so delicately is each balanced that a slight turn of a wheel moves both heavy masses at the will of the operator. Observations are regularly taken and the telescope ha« been a prominent factor in the astronomical world. In a separate building tha magnetic department holde sway, and all the magnetic vibrations of the earth, electrical and atmospheric Btorms, are carefully recorded. The garden is another source of attraction. Four hundred varieties of tropical plants and fruits are nourished and tended by Father Solar, who combines botany with meteorology. The coileotion embraces orange?, cinnamon, tamarind, mango, bread fruit, banana, bamboo, betel nut, fig and every other variety of fruit bearing trees. And thus labor from year to year the fraternity of Jesuits ; day by day they are at their posts working ceaselessly for the welfare of soience. Month after month they faithfully serve the nation that reposes the utmost confidence in their -knowledge. Year in and out witnesses the untiring efforts of the noble Father Algue and his assistants, men who are great among fellow men ; who are an honor to the country in whose interests they labor ; and who are an enduring credit to the great Church of which they are the most humble disciples.