SHORT LIFE OF THE BIG WHEEL BUT FOR ITS TIME, IT WAS AN AMAZING PIECEOF WATER-POWER MACHINERY.(Local/Wisconsin) From: The Wisconsin State Journal (Madison, WI) | Date: October 1, 2000 | COPYRIGHT 2000 Capital Newspapers. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information

The ``Big Wheel'' only rolled for six months before its spectacular breakdown in 1924, but while it did it was a marvel of early electrical generation.

Today, the world's biggest overshot water wheel sits deep in the woods along the Grand River in this Fond du Lac County community of302 people. You can't see it, because its current owner forbids trespassing. But the son of its inventor hopes that one day the wheel will be part of a park showcasing Fairwater's history.

``All you would need to make it turn is a garden hose,'' says Florian Laper, of Ripon. ``It would be a ...