It was peculiarly fitting and appropriate when Atchison was born, that a prominent physician of those days was on hand to assist in the delivery. In truth, Dr. J. H. Stringfellow was not only the physician in charge, but he also was one of the parents, and from that time to the present the medical profession has been active in the affairs of the county. There have been many splendid representatives of the profession here since the days of Dr. Stringfellow, and the vicissitudes and trials and hardships they went through make up a romantic chapter in our history. The oldest physician in the city of Atchison in 1916 in point of service is Dr. E. T. Shelly, and it might be said, without disparagement to others, he is not only the oldest, but he is perhaps held in as high esteem and respect as any other physician who ever practiced here. Dr. Shelly combines the qualities that make for good citizenship. He treats his profession as a good Christian treats his religion. He is a man of ideals, of vision, of integrity, and his life rings true. Yet, withal, Dr. Shelly is not a professional hermit. While his profession comes first, he does not allow it to exclude him from an active interest and participation in the affairs of life. He is a student of political and economic questions, an essayist, and a vigorous advocate of a liberal democracy. His views on these questions are wholesome and instructive, but it is to the profession of medicine that Dr. Shelly addressed himself in a recent interview the author of this history had with him, and his views were expressed as follows: “What changes have occurred in the practice of medicine since the days of the first physicians here! He did his work on horseback with his medicines in saddle-bags thrown over the horse, and often had to go many miles to visit a patient over a sparsely settled prairie with roads that were little more than trails. The streams he had to cross were bridgeless, and the larger ones could be crossed only at fords, which, after heavy rains or during freezing weather, were very dangerous. “Today, in this section of the State, these primitive conditions can hardly be imagined. Nearly every country doctor now has an automobile, and crosses gullies and streams on concrete bridges and travels over ‘dragged’ roads. Instead of passing through a sparsely settled country, he finds a fine large farm house on nearly every ‘quarter’ or ‘eighty’ supplemented by a substantial barn and spacious granaries. He passes a school house every few miles and occasionally a rural church, and lives in a comfortable, modern home in a flourishing, well kept country town. “In the science and art of medicine the change has been no less marked than in its general practice.