Braeburn & Metcalf Mine (ca. 1920-  ?  ),
located on Allegheny Valley Railroad, later the Allegheny Valley Division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, Braeburn, Lower Burrell Twp.,  and Metcalf, Allegheny Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA
[This was after the Braeburn Mine and the Metcalf Mine were combined thur underground passageways.]
Owners: (ca.1920-   ?  ), Ben Franklin Coal Company, Freeport, PA

Braeburn Steel Company, Braeburn, PA
See: Braeburn Mine, Braeburn, Lower Burrell Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA

Metcalf Mine (Braeburn & Metcalf Mine) (ca.    ?    ),
Located near the Allegheny River, on the Allegheny Valley Railroad, Metcalf, Allegheny Twp., Westmoreland Co., PA
[Metcalf Mine was combined with the Braeburn Mine ca.1920.]
[See: Braeburn & Metcalf Mine.]
Owners: (ca.1905-  ?  ), Ben Franklin Coal Company, Kittanning, PA
              (ca.1919-  ?  ), Ben Franklin Coal Company, Freeport, PA
 

New Kensington, Pa., Sept. 21, 1934
While the nearby poverty-stricken hamlet of Braeburn today prepared to bury the three victims of the worst mine disaster in its history, state and federal authorities were pushing their investigation into causes.
The consensus of opinion of federal and state mine inspectors is that yesterday's explosion in the Braeburn Mine of the Ben Franklin Coal Company was caused by an open flame miner's lamp touching off some particles of blasting powder or a cloud of coal dust.
Ten miners at work almost a mile and a half from the entrance rushed frantically for the open air when the explosion tore through the black passages.  Gasping for air, seven reached the top.

Bodies Carried Out.
Back in the mine were Campbell Woods, 42, a cutter, and father of six small children; Guiseppe Bacherini, 32 and Domenick Bertocci, 19. They were dead when carried to the surface by rescue squads.  Woods was taken from the workings about two hours after the explosion.  Bacherini and Bertocci, single men, were carried out about four hours later.
Rescuers and search party members told of their struggle through gaseous and dust-filled air of the deep workings.  They said that the explosion had not caused a cave-in or slide. None of the passageways was blocked.

Rush to Save.
Their stories were confirmed by mine inspectors, who were on the scene shortly after the explosion brought the entire population of Braeburn rushing to the mine's entrance.  They were W.J. McGregor, James D. Walker and G.S. McCaa, all state inspectors, and J.J. Forbes, of the United States Bureau of Mines.
After a tentative inspection of the mine and a conference with Albert Iseman, of Freeport, reported owner, the four inspectors announced that they had not found any indication of mismanagement. They said no blasting was going on at the time of the explosion, but pointed out that two men, probably Bacherini and Bertocci, has evidently been filling cartridges from a powder can when the blast occurred.  A broken powder can found near the two bodies was the basis of their belief that particles of the powder may have ignited.

Not Safest Practice:
Forbes said the explosion was extremely mild.  None of the bodies was severely burned or crushed.   As for the open flame lamps, state inspectors said that such type lamps were used in many drift mines, similar to the Braeburn Mine, where little or no gas is presented.
Forbes, the federal man, said:  "Open flame lamps are used in Drift Mines, but I wouldn't say that their use is the safest practice."  He hinted that he would probe into the use of the lamps, but insisted that it was not a known fact that the lamps caused the explosion.

Others in Hospital:
Brought to the Citizens General Hopital here were Primo Bertocci, brother of the dead Domenick;  Louis Shanko, 30;  Emil and Xaviar Lorent and Frank Varnowski. They suffered shock.  Two other miners were able to reach the surface without assistance.
The mine is covered by workmen's compensation insurance, according to W.G. Dick, manager of the Pittsburgh branch of Workmen's Compensation.
At the scene of the disaster, Iseman refused to comment, except to insist that every protection was given his workers.
An average of 50 miners are usually employed when production is average, mine inspectors say.
(Article courtesy of the Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, Friday, September 21, 1934 & The archives of the Westmoreland County Histroical Society, Greensburg, PA)

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