Omaha daily bee., 1899-10-22
AFTER TWENTY-FIVE YEARS
A. Hospe Prepares Rare Treat for His
Thousands Of Friends
RECEPTION AND AN EVENING OF MUSIC
Proprietor of One of the Prosperous
business Houses OF the city
Rounds out n Quartcr-Ccntury
in n Unique Manner.

Twenty five years ago tomorrow, and with
less than SIS in his pocket, a young and
beardless boy reached Omaha In the far
east NE had heard of the town and. being
full of vim and enterprise. determined to
come here and carve out a name and a for
tune. That boy was A. Hospe, who is now
one Of the largest dealers in the west in mu-
sic, musical Instruments fine art, artists
materials and picture frames Feeling that
he has succeeded far beyond his expectations,
tomorrow Mr.. Hospe will celebrate what he
has designated as his silver anniversary in
business. Not being desirous of enjoying
good thing entirely alone, he has issued
thousands OF invitations, requesting his
friends to come and participate in the func-
ton. which will be observed from until
10 o'clock in the evening.
While Mr.. Hospe has not sent invitations
to all of his friends, 1T is simply because he
has not had the time to do so. And in speak
ing of the friends of Mr.. HCspe, to name
them would be an impossibility, as they in
clude not only the people of Omaha, but
those Of hundreds of other cities and towns.
In fact. by his fair dealings, he has made
friends Of all who come in contact with him.
While Mr.. Hospe carries stock of goods
aggregating hundreds of thousands of dol
lars occupying a great building used as a
factory and wholesale establishment. and an
other OF four floors, devoted to the retail
trade, his business was not always so eX-
tensive. When he first came to Omaha he
| rented little coop 10X1S feet that then stood
on the ground now occupied by the Cont
| mental block His few remaining dollars,
after paying rent and a couple of weeks
board in advance, he invested in picture
| frame material During the day he would
| go out and canvass for orders and at night
would work up the orders. delivering the
| neXt day and at the same time soliciting
new orders For months he continued his
| abors, working night and day. He made a
fair profit on his work and at the end of a
| couple of years he found that the quarters
! in which he started were becoming too small.
| He moved into a larger building, going onto
| Dodge street, not far from where the old
| postoffice building now stands. There he
| worked just as hard, and eventually added
| a few musical instruments and sheet music.
| Sales we're good and he Immediately discov
cred that he was laying the foundation for a
good business. Inspired by the prospects and
| being determined to win, he hired clerk,
but continued to do a greater portion of the
work himself letting the boy whom he had
employed look AFTER the sales.
| Toiled Year After Year.
Year after year Mr.. Hospe toiled, and
! with the close of each year it was with feel
| ings of satisfaction that he realized that
| he was overcoming all obstacles and was
rapidly forging to the front and taking a
| place among the business men of the city.
AS his business continued to increase, he
added new lines, until now he has the
most complete music and art store west OF
Chicago.
The anniversary OF Mr. Hospes quarter
| OF a century In business will be observed
| in the retail establishment on Douglas
| street, where the four floors of the big
| store will be thrown open to the public
| All day yesterday the work of preparation
| for the event was going on. Along the
ceiling garlands of smilaX and other greens
were hung, while from the chandeliers were
suspended wreaths Of the same material
giving the interior of the rooms a fresh
and pretty appearance. OF course, during
the hours Of the reception, articles will be
sold, yet it is not the purpose to urge sales
the intention of Mr.. Hospe being to enter
tain his friends and make them feel per
fectly at home.
One of the great features of the Hospe
anniversary reception will be music. Music
is one of Mr.. Hospe's fads, and upon this
yet at the same time he will have only
the best. With this end in view, he has
secured the services of some of the ablest
musicians of the city, who from until
10 o'clock will render the choicest seec'
tions on the piano and other instruments
The music will not be on one floor alone
but instead, it will be on each and every
one.
One dealer whose instruments Mr.. Hcspt
handles has sent on a fine piano, silver
mounted which will be used on this &C.
casion. 1t is said to be the finest instru
ment in the United States. both as to tone
and finish.
In the evening the illuminations Of thu
store will be we'll worth seeing. Hun
dreds of electric lights will shine the color
being so arranged and combined as to gtv'
a rich luster to the decorations
Taking everything into consideration, th
Hospe reception promises to be pleasan
! event that will be remembered for lonl
time