Squire Higgs was the busiest man in Dogs' Corners. He was fire department, minister, doctor, constable. Postmaster, everything, in fact, in way of a public official. One hot day, returning from sundry was duties he summoned to stop a street fight. He put on his police hat, but had scarcely arrived upon the scene when the fire bells began to clang. Tearing back to the office, he hastily exchanged police hat for fire helmet and rushed to the burning property. But no sooner was he getting the flames under control than he was pulled off the job to prevent the fighters murdering each other. A lightning change of hats saw the squire separating the bloodthirsty combatants, when the fire broke out afresh. The helmet hack in vogue, he was handling the conflagration heroically when he was attacked by a love-sick young man who insisted that he perform his marriage ceremony on the spot. Back to the office flew the first citizen of Dogs' Corners, hustled into his clerical hat and was about to pronounce the matrimonial blessing, when the town arrived in a body to drag him back to the fire. The lovesick young man and his bride went too, clinging onto the squire's coat tails. Higgs put the bridegroom in the bucket brigade, swashed out the fire called in the erstwhile fighters to stand as witnesses, married the young couple, and collected his fee.
—Moving Picture World synopsis