[4] To bring attention to the new school, Rigge proposed to invite the public to an illustrated lecture on the topic of sound, in which he explained many of the latest inventions of the day.

[4] Its reputation established and its class size doubled, Rigge handed over the reins of the college to I. J. Boudreaux in 1882, taking on the role of Assistant Superior and continuing to teach science and German until 1883.

[4] When Michael P. Dowling was installed as President of Creighton University in Omaha in July 1885, among his first faculty requests was that Rigge be brought on as head of the science departments.

Rigge pointed out that, in addition to making its use difficult and infrequent, this jostling would eventually cause damage to the precision of the instrument.

He sometimes was asked to accompany one of these to the scaffold, a particularly onerous duty, as it required many days, even months sometimes, to overcome the trauma of witnessing these men's deaths.

His health forced him to come home for a time, teaching again at Marquette while he convalesced, but he requested permission to return,[13] and spent the years from 1900 to 1905[1] at mission stations throughout British Honduras, with Corozal Town as his base.

Conditions in many of the ranchos he visited were still primitive at this time, and many of the natives still spoke tribal languages, such as Mayan and Garifuna, making the task of teaching the catechism challenging, but Rigge persevered despite his age.