According to  man column: -x      Fill columns before filling rows.This option doesn't seem to do anything. Any idea how to use it?
Fill columns before rows option in unix column command
columns
This comes into play with the -c      Output is formatted for a display columns wide. option. Best explained with an example cat test.file21 a b c d e f g h2 a b c d e f g h3 a b c d e f g h4 a b c d e f g h5 a b c d e f g h6 a b c d e f g hWhen output is formatted for a display 80 columns wide, column fills out the rows firstcolumn -c 80 test.file2 1 a b c d e f g h       3 a b c d e f g h       5 a b c d e f g h2 a b c d e f g h       4 a b c d e f g h       6 a b c d e f g hWhen the -x      Fill columns before filling rows. option is passed, the opposite happens column -c 80 -x test.file2 1 a b c d e f g h       2 a b c d e f g h       3 a b c d e f g h4 a b c d e f g h       5 a b c d e f g h       6 a b c d e f g h