ALGUE, José. - Spanish Jesuit and scientist, b. at Manresa on 18 Dec. 1856, d. at Roquetas (Spain) on 27 May 1930. After completing his ecclesiastical studies and being ordained (1888), he was assigned to the Observatory of Manila, then in full development following its recognition by the Spanish government as the central meteorological office of the Philippines. Having secured a solid technical preparation in Europe and America, Fr. Algué landed at Manila in 1894; three years later, upon the death of Fr. Faura, he became director of the observatory, a position he held until 1924, representing it at numerous congresses, exhibitions, and international expeditions. After the American conquest of 1898, he succeeded in having the merits of the institution recognized by the new authorities, especially for cyclone warnings, and it became the center of the official network of the “Weather Bureau.”
Fr. Algué directed the publication, at the expense of the United States government, of the extensive collection of scientific data on the Philippines compiled by the Jesuits of the Observatory: El Archipiélago Filipino, Colección de datos geográficos..., 2 vols., Washington 1900, besides an Atlas de Filipinas. Among his other writings, the principal one is Baguitos y ciclones Filipino, Manila 1897, later reworked in English as The Cyclones of the Far East, 1904, and translated into various languages (Die Orkane des fernen Ostens, by Bergholz, Bremen 1900, is a plagiarism of it). Fr. Algué invented a zenith telescope with reflection for calculating variations in latitude, but he was better known for his “barocyclonometer,” an aneroid barometer supplemented by graduated circles for calculating the distance and direction of cyclones; the instrument was universally used by sailors in those waters, though it has now been replaced by radiotelegraphic warnings.