At the Elk's Head Hotel bellhops torment the lobby, each other and guests. The elevator is powered by a stubborn horse. A sham robbery turns into a real one. And there is a chase on a runaway trolley.

An out-of-work swindler takes a job as a reporter. After witnessing a car go over cliff, he grabs a rival reporter's camera and races to the newspaper office to enter the photo as his own. His rival is delayed when he gets caught in a woman's bedroom by her jealous husband. The swindler follows the distribution of the paper containing his 'scoop' around town where he is once again chased by the rival reporter. Both end up on the cow-catcher of a streetcar.

Three young children set up a table, and on the table is placed a miniature stage. The stage curtain opens, a carpet appears, and then the carpet unrolls by itself. Two puppet figures then come out and begin to perform a series of routines.

Combs, a settler in the Dakotas, receives word that he is the heir to a large fortune. He eagerly prepares to go and claim it, but his Native American wife White Fawn is dismayed. Fearing that she will lose her husband if he goes east, she stabs herself with a knife. When Combs finds her, he is overcome with grief. He bends over her and pulls out the knife, only to have their daughter see him in this position. She draws an erroneous conclusion from the situation, and runs for help, leading to some tumultuous developments.