Al has a reputation for terrible films. This wasn't terrible, but it was close. Al's father, Professor Rockenrye has discovered a gasoline substitute. He can drop it on a toy train or wind up toy, and the train will start running and the toy will start moving. Al's girl Rose is at his house and opens the door when Al's rival arrives. The big lug is there to whisk her away and marry her. Stupid Al gives the rival a drink of the formula, causing the rival to spit fire. Al then spills all of the remaining formula, ruining the Professor's hope of fame and fortune.
That night Al shows up at Rose's house and whisks her away with the rival giving chase in his car. There aren't any gags in the chase though, so we are thankful when this short if finally over.
I'll admit that I laughed once during this short, but it was due to the supporting players. As a comedian, Al Joy is terrible. His character is not likable at all. His character barely does anything at all, especially anything funny. We never see his character think his way out of a desperate situation. He's kind of like Harry Langdon without the gags or personality. You want to see the bad guy beat up Al because Al is so annoying. That's no way to make a comedy. In Al's defense, director Joseph Richmond seems to have directed five Al Joy comedies and nothing else, so there may be more blame to go around. This survives in a beautifully sharp print because presumably, few theaters showed it.