The brass roll has been crammed into the machine as a joke, as
suggested by Robbie, or to cover up the fact that the 14 reeds
are missing from the instrument.

To remove the brass strip, you will have to unscrew the two side
rails from the lower part of the box.  The part that is missing is
a block that contains the a reed plate with the 14 reeds.

What you have purchased is just the bellows and paper drive mechanism
from the instrument.  These machines use a paper strip similar to the
Mechanical Organettes.

This is a good example of "buyer beware".

Ed Schmidt
eschmidt@crosslink.net