A couple of years ago I made inquires as to whether or not The
Salvation Army had ever produced any player piano rolls.  To date
I have found no evidence to suggest that they did.  However...
Browsing on eBay I found the following:

  Item # 899696513 : 1885 Gem Roller Organ COB-CLIMBINGgoldenSTAIR
  Patented July 14, 1885, Gem roller organ cob #115, "Climbing Up the
  Golden Stairs", good condition with original end stickers.

This is a distinctly Salvation Army tune.  The story is that the tune
came to Commissioner Booth-Tucker (son-in-law of the Founder, General
William Booth) as he was climbing the stairs of a London 'bus in 1895.
When he got home he wrote it down.  Due to the irregular meter, no
suitable hymn could be found to be sung to the tune so his wife, Emma,
wrote some (climbing) lyrics to go with it.

Does anyone know if many Salvation Army tunes were made into organ cobs
or any other mechanical music formats?  Maybe I need to put off saving
for an Orchestrelle in favor of a Gem Roller Organ?!

Cadet Mark A. Williamson
The Salvation Army Officer Training College
Sydney, Australia