Acting
John Harms, a corporation magnate, has two motherless sons, Bobby and Sam. Bobby is a cute little youngster of six, and Sam is of age and spends his father's money with recklessness. Richard Freely, an arch-enemy of Harms', is continually trying to dissolve the corporation, and not until Newton, a half-brother to Freely, has forged some checks on a good friend of Harms', does the financier secure a wedge with which to ruin Freely. Harms threatens to expose his enemy for defending Newton, and Freely is saved from bodily injury by Bobby, who has come to ask his father for candy. Meantime Sam has forged his father's name to a check and handed it to Newton in payment of gambling debts. Harms is about to sacrifice his son to down Freely, when the little "Buffer' again bursts in and drags Sam away to play horse.
Because her father breaks her engagement to a young man, Jane, a spoiled girl of luxury, retires to a country hospital of which her father is a director, in order to sulk and give vent to her feelings.
George Cross, a junior partner in the advertising agency of Nigh and Cross, goes to his office one evening to get a plate for a newspaper and surprises Allan Nigh, his partner's son, who has been distributing a leaflet exposing the lies of the advertising firm. Rosie, a member of the "Truth Society" to which Allan belongs, is hiding in the next room. George sends Allan to the newspaper office and then discovers Rosie. Shortly thereafter, Nigh and his daughter Ann, who is also Allan's sweetheart, arrive and George lies his way out of a compromising situation. Soon after, a detective arrives to investigate a front-page exposé on the circulars that Allan has written. When the advertisers realize that the exposé is actually the best campaign ever conceived, the supposed detective offers Allan a tremendous salary to write ads for him, Rosie reveals herself as a reporter from the Journal and Allan and Ann reconcile.
When Tillie left her country home for the seminary, she was just a plain Gawk, but when she returned a year later, she was a Glorious Butterfly.
A necklace belonging to Mrs. Stuyvesant is stolen from Lawyer Smirney's office. It was smuggled in from China years before. Chief Knox is notified and believes Smirney guilty when he finds a diagram in his pocket, and following it, finds a necklace. Ho Fing-Tang, a Chinaman, studying law in the office, is not suspected by Knox, but Spider, a newspaper reporter, believes differently. Ho Fing-Tang is injured and in a delirium keeps repeating "Huns 764." Spider goes to the office and from a book called "Hun's 129 Reports," he extracts the real necklace. The stones Knox found prove to be paste.
The man meets and falls in love with a girl much younger than himself, and decides to cast off the woman with whom he had had a love affair. He goes to his old sweetheart and asks her to return his love letters. She does so on condition that he tell the new girl of their affair. He does not live up to his promise, but tells her that she is the first girl he has ever loved. In the meantime, he has lost his letters, and the new sweetheart, upon finding them, returns them to the owner. From this source she is advised to have nothing more to do with him unless she is convinced in her own mind that he is kneeling to her in spirit at all times.
An adventurous young girl in Florida gets herself lost in the Everglades and finds terror and excitement, as well as the rivalry of two men in love with her.
Rube Homer Splivins imitates the actions of a famous matinee idol in order to woo his lady love.
Ellen, a heiress, becomes tired of living an idle life so applies for a position as a maid to Mrs. Newlyrich. She is accepted.
Jim Bradley is on trial for murder, and at the eleventh hour, Sandy O'Connell furnishes an alibi, swearing that Bradley was with him at the time the murder was committed. Sandy is a very common sort of fellow, and when Bradley asks him why he did it, he replies that when he was a homeless kid of the gutter, Jim Bradley was pointed out to him as the man who gave money for the burial of his mother and father.
The political bosses knew it was an off year and they needed a Goat to run for City Clerk. They didn't want a regular guy to get "stepped on," so they started out to find a Fish. They found a nice man who ran a feed store and had lots of coin, so they pounced on him. Mr. Bolivar was his name and he drank malted milk and said "whom" and did everything that was nice. They jollied him until he really thought that he was the man for the position, and when his wife tried to save the poor simp, he only said he must answer the call of duty, that the Peepul wanted him. He sometimes wondered if the other fellow would get any votes at all. Little by little the bosses were drawing on his bank account, and on the night of election he was broke. He lost the fight by 20,000 votes, and when he looked for his pushers, they had skipped.
While Sweedie is studying her war map in her grog shop, two bums enter the place and start drinking wine. When Sweedie asks them to pay for it they dash out of the place. She calls the police and they pursue the bums. Sweedie is outdistanced in the chase and thought she saw the police enter a certain house, so she rushes in.
The Fable of Elvira and Farina and the Meal Ticket is a 1915 silent film directed by Richard Foster Baker. Gloria Swanson made her first credited appearance in this film as Farina.
Bessie Morris, a daughter of the rich, has grown tired of the lazy life which she is forced to live and longs to get out in the world and do some good. Her father, who believes in letting his daughter think and decide for herself, suggests that she pay a visit to his old nurse, Widow Hobbs. She is delighted at this suggestion and leaves for the village the following day. Here she meets Samuel Jenkins, a rural lawyer, who pays her great attention. Their friendship finally grows into love and she promises to marry him as soon as he is able to support her. Shortly after she goes back to the city, not revealing to him her wealth or social standing.
Kate had a very devoted beau known as George. George loved the girl so hard that he loved all her relatives. He thought it his duty to give three hearty cheers for Father and Mother, and likewise he worked for a stand-in with Tom, her husky brother. His gushing affections for Kate slopped over on Sister Lil, and this caused Kate to sit up and take notice. He went shopping with mother and carried everything she purchased. She was peeved but George thought he was making a great hit. Next day he tried to cultivate the big athletic brother, but found his Waterloo.
"Sure-thing" Steve and his pals searched the map for prospective country towns in which they could bunco the inhabitants. They decided the town of Simpville would fall for a fake auction sale.
