A powerful gale tore through Baltimore and the Chesapeake Bay in April 1916, leaving behind a trail of wreckage on land and water. Newspapers reported that the wind reached 40 miles an hour, strong enough to topple industrial structures, tear vessels from their moorings, and send small boats capsizing in the bay.
Among the most startling incidents was the tragic accident involving two young sisters, Sophie and Lillian Dover, who were roller-skating on Cross Street when the wind reportedly blew them into an automobile. Ten-year-old Sophie suffered a broken neck, while her younger sister was badly injured.
The storm also damaged the Baltimore Drydock Company, where a 110-foot steel smokestack crashed through the roof of a building and injured workers. Along the waterfront, the steamer Ella Wood broke loose and struck the Pennsylvania Railroad piers, causing thousands of dollars in damage…