What was Hammond thinking?

[Ken Williams <kwilliams@sh-gpl.ti.com>]

   I submitted a post on Monday concerning an elderly
gentleman giving away an organ (he didn't know the brand
or model) connected to an amplifier. My immediate thoughts
were A, B-, or C- with a Hammond tone cabinet or Leslie.
I went over to the house last night and he said the organ
was stored in another house they owned around the block.
We got there, and in the corner, under piles of rat dung,
was the strangest looking thing with the name Hammond on
the front that I've ever seen. It had one very short manual,
several large square tone controls, and an array of small
buttons to the left of the keys. Next to it was a Hammond 
tone cabinet. We loaded them into the truck and carted them
home. It turns out that the organ is an S-4 chord organ and
the tone cabinet, a JR-20 I believe. On both, the wood is in
good shape, but the wiring, etc. are pretty crumbly. I got
up the nerve to plug in the organ (with a fire extinguisher
near by), the tubes lit up, and it actually made some faint
notes for a few seconds, then turned silent. 

   The manual is 37 notes, I believe, and the chord buttons
consist of an array of 12 by 6 or 7. The buttons are labled
A, A#, B, etc. across the top and MAJOR, MINOR, MINOR-7TH,
etc. down the left side. There are probably fifteen large
square rocker switches in a row extending the length of the
organ above the keys/buttons with various tone-control
names for each. There are a couple of potentiometers for 
organ volume, pedal volume, etc. but there are only two
pedals. The power switch is a large lever underneath the
keys in the center, which appears to control some parameter
using ones knee.

   What was Hammond thinking when they created this thing?
When were they made and how many were sold? Do they sound
anything like a tonewheel Hammond? Is it worth anything?
Does anyone have any technical information for it? I'd
like to key it working some time.

Ken Williams