NATION IN BRIEF : MASSACHUSETTS : Mystery Surrounds 7 Missing Chinese

Authorities searched fruitlessly for seven Chinese peasants reported abducted upon arriving in this country. Suspicions rose that they may have been trying to escape China. Adding to the mystery was the question of why the Chinese were being brought to a farm in Athol, a remote western Massachusetts town, to study organic agriculture, an art that has been practiced in their country for centuries. The seven missing Chinese were among a group of 16 farmers who arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York Wednesday. Witnesses said the seven men were herded by three other Asian men into a waiting car.