<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<style type="text/css">
div:first-letter { float: left; }
</style>
<script>
function boom()
{
var v = document.getElementById("v");
var t = v.firstChild;
v.appendChild(document.createTextNode(" "));
v.removeChild(t);
}
</script>
</head>
<body onload="boom();"><div id="v" style="-moz-column-count: 2; width: 1px;">a b</div></body>
</html>