Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1932-04-08
The Three
= Horizons g.
So
By FANNIE HURST
q BY Mcclure Newspaper syndicate.l
(WNu service)

O.
YIMBLE footed, nimble witted,
4 N were the Three Horizons, and
4 " their long bookings on wide
vaudeville circuits testified to
1t. The Three Horizons were q cheer
ing part OF any bill and almost In
variably second only In importance 70
a headliner like Friganza, Brice or San
francisco.
There were Beatty Horton, whose
patter was as nlmble % his softsshoe
! dancing. Alicin Horton. who c0hid
outpattern but not Guidance her
spouse, and, from the age Of seven on,
Winstead Horton, who could ding him
self in a bridge from maternal to pa
ternal shoulders, and sing in a choir
soprano that had captlVated his audi
ences from the days he had toddled
on stage with lifted hands balancing
insure feet.
All that was changed now. Win
stead was grown, his father Beatty
had developed a equity tendency and
had been obliged to cut out the soft
shoe work, and Alicia, while she still
made up to something of the old daE-
cling blondness and was adorably cute
In her flip line Of patter, was never
theless subject to the relentless eye
Of her audience to the extent that they
simply did not want the young stuff'
from her any longer. Alicia, in rather
severe toys and slight comedy make
up, was getting around that, these
days, by doing the young matron sort
Of thing, and to point making her
audience like It. But the fact Of the
matter was that by the time he was
eighteen, and his parents were In their
forties, Winstead, single-handed, was
carrying the act.
And carrying 1t brilliantly. A fly
ing contortionist, voice for comic,
character and solo singing, a battling
ventriloQuist and a soft-shoe dancer
who seldom failed to get his six re-
calls, the Three Horton act practical
ly rested on his slim young shoulders.
Not that anything of the kind was
ever admitted in the confines of the
Horton family, however achingly
Beatty or Alicia might long since have
realized 1t to themselves. Regularly,
the Three Horizons held confab for
the refurbishing Of their act; periodl-
cally rehearsals were called, changes
inserted, songs revamped and costumes
freshened for each and every one Of
the three of them, with emphasis on
the requirements of each. Beatty'i
audiences wanted his sure-ire bonn
bardment Of patter; Alicia's wanted
hers blond and graceful; Winstead'i
wanted him the flying, dancing, comic
vocal young devil.
The Three Horizons. Up to the bit
ter end, until Beatty's patter began t
crack In his throat, and Alicia's ankles
to twist and turn as she danced, there
was no out-and-out admission on thu
part Of the older Horizons that they
were finished.
The situation racked Winstead ant
tore at the very withes Of him. They
were such a gallant pair In his eyes
the dudlsh, rakish, old Beatty who
would limp to the wings from hi
dressing room, with his face made W
into a grin and the darts Of pair
through his ankles like fire; the prank
lsh MISUNDERSTANDING, Alicia
whose role in life was to pamper ev
eryone except herself, from her hus
band and son down to the most OBJ
scure performer on the bill. To Sc,
them slowly disintegrate, to see mer
CHESS public grow cold to them, to be
hold the hurt in the eyes Of his fathe
and the bewilderment on the face o
Alicia was pathos beyond the telling
| Not but what they gloried In the rls
ing success Of their son, and stoo,
back with their faces perspiring an
their hearts hurting from exertion an
something else, for him to take tn
honors for the act, but there cam
the time when there was simply n
easing the fact, for the two Of then
that they were finished. Manager
were clamorlng for Winstead, and 70
years had been tolerating the presenc
Of the older pair for the simple reaso
that he would not book without then
But the time had come when II wa
apparent even to Winstead himsel
that there was imposition in any loni
er asking for bookings for the olde
pair. Beatty was winded almo h
fore he reached stage, Alicia, poe
dear, no longer had the stamina
Strangely, this realization dHwne'
nearly simultaneously upon the thre
Of them, sparlng Winstead the almo'
unbearable pain of telling them the
hour had struck.
"Were finished, Beatty" Alicia al
nounced to her husband one evenln
as they sat around trying wholchear
edly to discuss plans for a next SCI
sons act. "What's the use beatln
around the bush1 They don't wal
us. We're dead weight around Wi
steads neck. Let's face the music"
It was with sense Of what SCENE
positive relief that Beatty capiiulnte
Actually, his old face seemed for III
first time to allow Itself to fall int
the luxury OF wrinkles.
'T guess you're right, Alicia. Wei
DONE
There was not any money scar
Wlnstead, Of course would see 10 thu
and besides the Horizons. Beatty an
Alicia. slmple-lIVlng, slmple-nlnde
folk, had put by their little pennN
II was fear Of Wlnstcld that ly |
their hearts. This boy, never OF 4
his parents tracks suddenly alone o
the road! Fear Of Winstead IA