Two rival newspaper editors try to scoop each other through their different methods of integrity on reporting the news.

In 1890, two British expatriates, Robert Herrick and Huish, and German Captain Jakob Thorbecke, are commissioned to sail a Yankee schooner called The Golden State , whose captain and crew have died of smallpox. From Tehua in the South Seas to Australia, they are to deliver a cargo of champagne. Thorbecke decides to head for Peru, however, so he can sell the merchandise and pocket the money. While sailing, Faith Wishart, daughter of the deceased captain, comes out of her hiding place on board and, by briefly holding Thorbecke at gunpoint, demands he make the delivery.

Private eye Mike Shayne encounters a large amount of trouble while attempting to guard a murder witness.

A pair of lovers plot to kill the woman's rich husband.

Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.

Sassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring and solve the murder of a baby.