American Notes COURTS

In 1988 the Columbus America Discovery Group made two major discoveries. First, 1 1/2 miles down in the Atlantic, 160 miles off South Carolina, it located the S.S. Central America, a side-wheel steamer that sank 133 years ago with as much as 6 tons of gold on board. Second, the Ohio outfit found out that a big gold find attracts treasure lovers who do their hunting in court. A numerous rabble of litigants lurched into federal court to grab whatever they could of the estimated $1 billion treasure.

Insurance firms claimed part of the loot because they had paid claims on the ship. Columbia University wanted a share for furnishing some essentially useless information. New York State demanded anything due defunct New York companies. But last week federal Judge Richard B. Kellam of the Norfolk District told the gold-grabbers' plaintiffs they were all wet. Now, barring a reversal, two-thirds of the treasure will go to 166 investors who backed the 13-year search, and the rest will be divided among about 25 partners.