From the December 2, 1885 Brooklyn Daily Eagle:

“Rockaway Beach is still excited over the mysterious wild man of the sea and last night a company of New York men went down to the beach to see the strange creature. They saw the figure and declare that his body is covered with auburn hair as long as a horse’s mane. John B. Ennis declared this morning that at eight o’clock last night he met the wild man near the Atlantic Park. Ennis came upon the dweller in the sea suddenly. He was dancing like one deranged, until, catching sight of Ennis, he gave a peculiar screech and darted into the sea. Ennis lost sight of the creature after the first wave broke over it, and walked the beach for half an hour, pistol in hand, hoping to see the suspicious person emerge from the water. Every man on the beach goes armed, and the women and children do not venture out alone, day or night. There is a pretty general inclination to shoot the hairy being, as a means of ascertaining whether it is natural or supernatural, but no one will run the risk of being prosecuted if it should turn out that the wild man is only an insane creature.”