<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
    <head>
        <title>Change regular block to multicol</title>
        <script>
            function test() {
                var elm = document.getElementById('elm');
                elm.offsetTop; // trigger layout
                elm.style.WebkitColumns = 4;
                elm.style.columns = 4;
            }
        </script>
    </head>
    <body onload="test()">
        <p>You should see the word 'PASS' below.</p>
        <div style="font-family:monospace; float:left;">
            <div id="elm" style="-webkit-column-gap:0; column-gap:0; orphans:1; widows:1;">
                P<br>
                A<br>
                S<br>
                S<br>
            </div>
        </div>
    </body>
</html>