newly found poem???

Thanks to you R.B. for the fax transmission of the enclosed poem "The Friendly Hand" which he discovered written in a Mormon Bible (in German) recently discovered in Nevada City, Nevada. (also translated into German in the same pages) The poem closed with the phrase "by James Whitcomb Riley."  This poem was not previously known.  Opinion as to authenticity follows but WHAT DO YOU RILEY FANS OUT THERE THINK?  Is it a Riley poem or not???

The title page (below):              Introductory page in flyleaf (below):

Poem "The Friendly Hand" in both German and English.

The humble opinion of this webmaster:  I think this is the poem once entitled "A Hand on the Shoulder" which was attributed to Riley but was thought to have been written by Frank L. Stanton.  "A Hand on the Shoulder" first appeared as being a Riley poem in the Lynchburg (VA) NEWS on Sept. 28, 1913 but was not.  I think this because that phrase "A Hand on the Shoulder" is in the poem.  

James Whitcomb Riley .com takes very seriously each such discovery of a possible new Riley poem.  This one is a tricky one particularly because the title is different from what the possible attribution might be.