(Special to The Record)

CAMDEN – A former school superintendent pleaded innocent today to charges he set a fire that burned down the school he headed.

Edward W. Shingler, charged with firing the Blaney school in 1956, made his plea in state criminal circuit court.

The school burned to the ground only a few hours after graduation exercises in June, 1956.

Since then, the trial has been postpone five times.

School records, including ones dealing with school moneys, were found missing from the unlooked school safe after the fire cooled off enough for firemen and police to investigate.

The work of drawing a jury continued slowly after the trail opened.