The Bowery

In the Gay Nineties, on New York's Bowery, known as the "livest mile on the face of the globe," Chuck Connors, the owner of a saloon which boasts the "largest schooner of beer," finds that his rival, Steve Brody, has thrown a mushmelon at his window. After the happy-go-lucky Steve explains that he threw the melon on a dare, Chuck is about to fight him when they learn of a fire in Chinatown. Both men call upon their volunteer fire brigades, and they wager $100 on which will be the first to throw water on the fire. Although Steve gets there first, he finds Chuck's young pal, Swipes McGurk, sitting on a barrel over the fire hydrant so that Chuck's brigade can use it first. The rival fire fighters get into a tremendous fight and soon lie scattered in the street and gutters as the fire reduces the building to a smoldering ruin. Steve vows to get even, but when two hoodlums, Slick and Googy from Jersey City, offer to kill Chuck for $500, Steve fights them. (Verleiher-Text)