The Final Conquest - Production & Contact Info (original) (raw)

Mayor Harding has set in motion the machinery of the Police Department to capture Stone and break up the criminal gangs with which the latter has surrounded himself. Stone has found a haven with the Gas House Gang and succeeds in eluding ...See moreMayor Harding has set in motion the machinery of the Police Department to capture Stone and break up the criminal gangs with which the latter has surrounded himself. Stone has found a haven with the Gas House Gang and succeeds in eluding and defying the police, partly because Captain Hicks of the plainclothes department of police is in league with the crooks of the underworld. Stone is rapidly nearing a breakdown. His fury at his inability to "get" Harding amounts almost to insanity. Drink exaggerates his mental condition, until he is in a frame of mind to take any chance if it will lead to a final accounting with the man he hates. Harding sends for the head of the Gas Trust, determined to correct the evils of this monopoly. When Bitner is before him he points out that the practice of pumping air into the pipes, the use of irregular meters and the use of mixed gas at high rates must cease. Bitner tells Harding he has been misinformed regarding these things and invites him to come to the works that night and personally investigate. Harding agrees to do so. Hicks, the plainclothes man, is present and reports the fact of Harding's expected visit to the gas works to Stone and the "gang." Stone, in his drunken joy, shouts to the gang: "I've offered $10,000 to anyone who would 'get' this man, but I'm going to do the job myself." He leaves for the gas works. The gang, however, have no intention of letting the chance of bagging that much money slip. They learn of Harding's visit from Hicks, after agreeing to give him a third of the reward. Stone, in a mad moment, has sent a note to Dorothy Maxwell stating that Harding was due to "pass on" that night. Dorothy follows the man who delivers it and sees him enter the headquarters of the Gas House Gang. Thinking Harding is concealed there she informs the police and the place is raided. The gang have left, however, and nothing is found but Hicks and the old caretaker. The latter tells the police that the gang have gone to the gas house. Dorothy sets out for the plant followed by the police. In the meantime Stone has called on Bitner and convinced him that Harding is a menace to his business. He makes him agree to call his firemen from the boiler room and send Harding alone to inspect the place. Stone promises him that no trace of the body will ever be found. Harding arrives earlier than he expected and so just avoids the gang, who arrive a few minutes later. Harding is shown over the plant and finally descends into the boiler room, where Stone is waiting in concealment for him. As he reaches the bottom step Stone strikes him from behind, rendering him unconscious, then springs to the firebox, throwing open the huge door and exposing Harding to the terrific heat and glare of the furnace. At the same time a number of things happen. Dorothy has seen Harding go down the stairs to the boiler room and rushes past the astonished Bitner and follows him. The policemen following catch sight of the gang who have rounded a corner on the hunt for Harding. Both contending factions thereupon open fire without a moment's delay. Bitner, between them, is pierced by a bullet and rolls down the stairs. Dorothy has dragged Harding a few feet from the stairs as Stone, blinded by the glare of the furnace, backs to the body of Bitner, picks it up and throws it into the fiery inferno, closing the door and laughing with insane glee at the thought that at last he is rid of Harding. As he turns he faces Harding, who has recovered. In his present mental state Stone fancies he is facing an accusing spirit from the other world and with a cry of horror he rushes up the stairs and falls a victim of the battle being waged between the police and the gang. After much hard and persistent work the police are successful in running down the remaining members of the nefarious gang of hoodlums and all are rounded up and arrested. Hicks is given a long term in the state penitentiary for his treacherous connection with the gang of crooks. Dorothy, who has ably helped Harding through his struggle with the grafters, has grown very dear to him, and it is fair to suppose that she will be his "final conquest." Written by Moving Picture World synopsis See less