Their demand for paper plates being refused the members of Dishwashers' Union No. 23 go on strike and the chef of the summer hotel finds himself face to face with a heart-breaking problem. While he is deliberating on the best course to pursue three tramps with huge appetites, but small inclination for work, arrive upon the scene and see upon the kitchen door the sign "Dishwashers Wanted." Learning of the straits in which the chef is placed the flame of genius flares up in Dick and he leads his companions away to get their aid in perfecting his plans. The next day he calls upon the chef and before he can be thrown out has told him that he has invented a machine which will wash dishes cleanly, quickly and automatically and that he will sell it for a thousand dollars. The chef offers to give it a trial and the machine (the result of real labor upon the part of the tramps) is delivered to the hotel kitchen. Dick feeds dirty plates into a slot in the end and into the rack at the other end comes out clean dishes. The delighted chef gives to Dick a check for a thousand dollars. The next day dirty dishes are brought to the machine from all around. For a while it works beautifully, but suddenly stops. The chef's dog which has been sniffing around crawls into it. There comes a racket from the interior, the side falls out and there is disclosed Dick's two hobo friends, who have been doing the dishwashing.
