eight years. Plaintiff was 42 years of age and defendant 45 years of age at the time this divorce proceeding was instituted. There were four children born of the marriage, two boys and two girls, ranging in age from 5 to 16 *367 at the time of the hearings. Plaintiff is a housewife and is also engaged in part time employment selling plastic kitchenware and perfume. Defendant was previously engaged in the real estate and building construction business but is now in the gas and oil well drilling business.
The bill of particulars filed by the plaintiff contains the following averments of physical violence inflicted upon her by the defendant:
"1. On July 21, 1953, the defendant attacked the plaintiff, choked her and said he intended to kill her.
"2. Inthe spring of 1953, the defendant on a number of occasions inflicted severe bruises on the plaintiff.
"3. In the fall of 1952, the defendant on a number of occasions hit the plaintiff and inflicted injuries on her."
To support the charge of cruel and barbarous treatment as summarized in the above averments the plaintiff testified as follows concerning the alleged attack in July, 1953: "I came home, it was late, and I went to bed. He came in from across the hall, walked around the bed and came over and put his hands on my throat, and said that he was going to do away with me, that he had just taken enough from me, and that he had been advised that the only thing that could be done